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Thoughts the Occasion 



MY& 



FRATERNAL AND BENEVOLENT 



REFERENCE MANUAL OF HISTORICAL DATA AND FACTS; HELPFUL 
IN SUGGESTING THEMES, AND IN OUTLINING ADDRESSES 
FOR THE OBSERVANCE OF TIMELY OR SPECIAL 
OCCASIONS OF THE VARIOUS 

ORDERS 



COMPILED BY 

FRANKLIN NOBLE, D. D. 

Editor of The Treasury Magazine 



NEW YORK 
E. B. TREAT & COMPANY 

241-243 West 23D street 
1905 



Copyright, By 

E. B. Treat & Company 

1905 






LIBRARY of 


30N6RESS 


Two Copies 


Jieceivea 


JAN 4 


1905 


a Co&yngn 


[ entry 


&USS Os XXc, Noi 
COPY B. 






PREFACE 

Fraternal organizations are said to enroll six million 
persons among their members in America. They are a 
growth for the most part of the century just closed and 
in the earlier part of the century they met with vehement 
opposition — an opposition which entered into politics and 
was enshrined in the constitution of some branches of 
the Christian Church. That opposition could hardly 
have attained such strength had there been no reason- 
able grounds for it, and it is probably true that some 
men gave to their fraternity an importance in their lives 
and a control over their actions which just judgment 
cannot approve, and that some fraternities undertook 
to usurp control over the freedom and conscience of 
their members which a higher self-respect would refuse. 

But in spite of misuse and abuse the fraternities have 
lived on and grown stronger, and they are growing to- 
day in numbers and influence. They do not undertake 
to alter one's political or religious affiliations, nor is it 
believed that the tie of fraternity is likely to alter a 
man's vote at the polls or his unbiased verdict in the jury- 
box, nor do the fraternities attempt to usurp the place of 
the Christian Church. Yet it may be said that they bear 
witness in all these relations that the element of brother- 
hood ought to enter in and may have an influential place 
in all our lives, whether in religion, in charity, or in 
business. 

The fraternal societies in America are free from the 
dangerous repression of the despotic governments of 



6 PREFACE 

the Old World, and under no temptation to use their 
brotherhood for purposes of treason or political plotting. 
Should any " Order " in our country so misuse its oppor- 
tunity, its own members would be the first to rebuke the 
error. Probably the attempt to use a fraternity for 
political purposes would be as futile as an attempt so to 
misuse a church. 

Yet there is a general conviction that even the Church 
is cold and selfish, and would be better if something more 
of the spirit of brotherhood could come into it. No one 
can fail to see the power of the spirit of brotherhood in 
the work of reform, and the last quarter of the century 
has witnessed the successful application of the same 
principle of brotherly help to the business of life insur- 
ance. 

The varieties of fraternal organization are very many, 
and volumes have been written to record merely the 
briefest cyclopedic statement of their history; and it 
would be useless for the present work to attempt any 
such complete survey, though we hope to give an in- 
telligent and satisfactory account of the origin and 
growth and present condition of the principal fraternal 
societies of our time. 

But along with this dry statement of historic facts 
we wish to present a series of able and interesting 
addresses in which some of the most distinguished men 
of out; time have expressed their appreciation of these 
fraternities. The most " secret " organizations have 
occasional public meetings for the dedication of halls 
or lodge-rooms, the installation of officers, the celebra- 
tion of anniversaries, the commemoration of good men 
who have passed away, and other purposes of general 
interest; and these have been the occasion of some most 
eloquent addresses and valuable sermons, which set be- 



PREFACE 7 

fore us their authors' opinions as to the society and its 
work. 

We believe also that members of different Orders, look- 
ing forward to such public occasions, and wishing per- 
haps to take effective part in them, will be glad to see 
how such things have been done in the past, and may 
find in what others have said valuable suggestion for 
themselves. Many of us do not know how good things 
have been said for a cause which lies near our hearts, and 
the record of it can hardly fail to kindle our thoughts to 
a happy and profitable expression. 

That our readers may readily find what is said about 
any particular organization, we have prepared a complete 
alphabetic index; but it has seemed best to classify the 
different societies, and to arrange these according to a 
natural order. We have not said much about the se- 
cresy or the secrets of the fraternities. The main 
thought of all the fraternities is an " open secret " ; the 
most of them publish the facts of their important busi- 
ness as often as once a year, and in various " public 
meetings " bring their affairs before the public. Their 
charities are secret to some extent. If it is reported 
that a brother is sick and his rent unpaid, it is not neces- 
sary to sound a trumpet before collecting some money 
for his help. It is done, and nothing said about it out 
of doors. We have seen this time and again where the 
regular benefits of the Order did not meet the case. But 
this was no more a regular secret of the Order than 
would a similar brotherliness among the clerks of a busi- 
ness house be reported as part of their business. Where- 
ever there is the spirit of fraternity there is a certain 
delicacy of privacy, and every fraternity has something 
of this. The secrecy of the ritual of initiation and other 
ceremonies is intended to make it more impressive in 



8 PREFACE 

whatever lessons of kindness and faithfulness it may 
attempt to teach. Probably a large part of these mys- 
teries of the Orders have been more or less exposed by 
carelessness, accident, or willful betrayal. There are 
many books which profess to give these revelations; but 
those who have read them have found them of little con- 
sequence, and rather hard to remember, even if con- 
vinced that they were true revelations. As far as these 
mysteries are concerned, the secrecy of the Orders seems 
to us a matter of little moment. If there are some prom- 
ises that seem extreme, or some vows or even oaths that 
have a fearsome sound, it is probable that they are not 
taken over-seriously, and do not greatly change the ordi- 
nary conduct of the members. The real secrecy of the 
Orders is in their active charity, which abounds in un- 
published deeds of helpfulness, and watches over the 
needs of members and those dependent on them. 

The better-known fraternities may be arranged in the 
following classes: 

1. The simple fraternal brotherhoods, which put the 
principle of brotherhood foremost, making all pecuniary 
benefit altogether secondary, or even omitting it alto- 
gether, and ignoring all particular movements for reform, 
and all religious organizations. Of these mere fraterni- 
ties, cultivating brotherhood and nothing more, the Free- 
masons are the oldest and best known example, but 
with them may be classed a considerable number of other 
Orders. 

2. A second class of fraternities, sprung up within a 
little more than twenty-five years, but increased now till 
it includes fully half the members of fraternities in the 
land, is the great class of insurance societies. Some of 
these are most successful as fraternal organizations, the 
members meeting weekly with great unanimity and en- 



PREFACE 9 

thusiasm, and finding great delight and profit in fra- 
ternal association, but making the main purpose of their 
organization the insuring of a death benefit to be paid 
to the widow or children of any member wfco dies. 
Probably the Royal Arcanum, as one of the oldest, is the 
best known example of this great class of fraternities. 

3. A third class of fraternities has been of those 
identified with moral reform, especially the great temper- 
ance reform, of which the Sons of Temperance, the Good 
Templars, and the Father Mathew Total Abstinence 
Brotherhood are examples. 

Some of these societies are not secret, or even private, 
while others make much of the mystery of private meet- 
ings and secret ceremonies of initiation ; but all of them 
profess and cultivate the spirit of brotherhood, and are 
properly classed as fraternal societies. 

Of the different fraternities, or social brotherhoods, 
in America, about half make the feature of life insurance 
and the payment of benefits especially prominent. They 
value the principle of fraternity, and turn it to useful 
account, making it in fact do the work which mere life 
insurance companies have done by paid agents, and so 
are able to furnish insurance at a lower rate of premium. 
Again, a large body of fraternities are pre-eminently 
societies of moral reform, and are known to the public 
mainly by their public meetings in the interest of tem- 
perance. 

But the oldest fraternities do not declare themselves 
mainly societies of reform, or societies of life insurance. 
They acknowledge the duty of the lodge to bury the 
dead and care for the necessities of widows and orphans 
of their members, but this is not a business agreement so 
much as an expression of the general principle of benevo- 
lence and charity which is a duty of all men, and which 



io PREFACE 

the lodge tries to make more emphatic and practical; 
and the same principle of charity which cares for the 
needy is careful for character, and does what it can 
for moral reform, and more for holding men from going 
astray than for seeking out and reclaiming those who 
have gone astray. It is thought that benevolence and 
reform may be secured, and perhaps best secured, by the 
cultivation of brotherly friendship based upon high priii' 
ciples and mutual esteem. Such fraternities try to bring 
the best men into their association, and to keep them 
there by worthy and benevolent activity, while fraternal 
association is highly esteemed, and a large part of the 
members find in the pleasant companionship of the lodge 
and its fraternal sympathies their chief social resource. 

It is to be regretted that many of the Orders or So- 
cieties failed to respond to our endeavor to have this 
volume cover more fully the plan proposed. In a num- 
ber of instances the main facts have been happily supplied 
through Stevens' Cyclopedia, to which we make grateful 
acknowledgment. 



CONTENTS 



I ntroductory. — Fraternal Associations 
Fraternity, Address .... 

Fraternalism ...... 

What is Fraternity? . . . . 

Fraternalism ..... 

The Growth of Fraternity 
Inherent Strength of Fraternalism . 



PAGE 

E. N. Haag . . 17 

Pres. Theodore Roosevelt 19 
Pres. Charles W. Eliot 20 
The Protector . .21 

National Fraternal Press 22 
Fresno Democrat, Cal. . 23 
E. N. Haag . . .26 



PART I 
SOCIAL AND BENEVOLENT BROTHERHOODS 

FREEMASONRY 

Historical. — Higher Degrees of Masonry; 
The Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite; 
Knights Templars; English Modern 

Templary; Order of the Eastern Star . . • . • 33 

The Renaissance of Masonry, Oration . Roscoe Pound . • .41 
Masonry and the State, Installation x\d- 

dress . . . . . . . Jesse S. Jones . . 57 

The First Grand Master of Virginia, Ad- 
dress ....... Gilbert Patten Brown . 59 

Requirements of Masonry .... Masonic Standard . . 62 

A Masonic Retrospect, Address . . Charles A. Tonsor. . 64 
Fifty Years of Washington Masonry, Semi- 
centennial Address . . . . G. S. Thomas Milburne 

Reed ... 66 

Washington, A Masonic Eulogy . . . Pres. William McKinley 80 

Masonry Triumphant, A Sermon . . Rev. A. E. Barnett . 70 

Freemasonry, A Statement .... Benjamin Franklin . .85 

An Incident of the Civil War . . . The Pacific Mason . 86 

Irish Masonry Dublin Express . . 87 

ODD FELLOWS 
Historical 89 

The Emblem of I. O. O. F., Higher De- 
grees ..... 90 

Degree of Rebecca . . .91 

Other Bodies of Odd Fellows ... . . . . .92 

Growth and Conditions of I. O. O. F., 

Address Grand Sire A. S. Pink- 

erton . . . .94 
The Sovereign Grand Lodge, I. O. O. F., 

Annual Address Grand Sire C. Cable . 97 

The Three Links of the I. O. O. F., A ■ 

Sermon . Rev. Virgil W. Tevis . 102 

II 



12 CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The Supremacy of Love, A Sermon . Rev. H. O. Breeden . 112 
Odd Fellowship Exemplified in Jesus Only, 

A Sermon Rev. J. Prettyman . 124 

Odd Fellowship and Masonry . . . John H. White . . 126 

Fraternity Odd Fellows Review . 127 

Members that Read Odd Fellows Register . 129 

KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS 

Historical . . .131 

Biennial Address John Van Valkenburg 133 

Address of Acceptance S. C. Howard Douglass 137 

Knights of Pythias Eulogy . . . John Van Valkenburg 142 

Fraternal Loyalty ...... Pythias Knight . .145 

KNIGHTS OF MALTA 

Historical • . . 147 

Opinions of Eminent Men . . . . . • . .151 

Chronological History ..... ..... 150 

BENEVOLENT AND PROTECTIVE ORDER OF ELKS 

Historical . . . 155 

Dedication Address .... Andrew J. Montague . 156 

PART II 
BENEFICIARY AND FRATERNAL ORDERS 

Introductory. — National Fraternal Con- 
gress . ....... . • • .161 

Wholesome Counsels, By the Committee on 

Statistics . . . . . . . . • • .164 

Fraternity, the Latest Moral Force, Ad- 
dress . Wallace Thayer . . 172 

Fraternal Life Insurance, A Sermon . . W. A. Matthews, D. D. . 177 
Don't Forget Those Who Gave Us Fra- 
ternity, Address W. L. Morgan . .181 

Fraternal Societies, Origin and History . B. J. Kline . . .185 

Fraternity and Christianity . . . Selected . . . 187 

Fraternal Insurance . . . • . L. S. M. . . .189 

Fraternalism Our Goat . . . 191 

The Brotherhood of Man .... Buckeye Workman . 192 

Charity, The Keynote of Fraternalism . • The New Light . . 193 

Fraternity and Permanency. . . . J. T. Rogers . . , 195 

Fraternity . ...... Mystic Mirror . . 197 

A Protected Home Rev. Wm. Lloyd . .198 



THE UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 

Historical . 

Centennial Oration, Chicago, Ills. . . William A. Schmitt 

Centennial Address .... . Henry A. McGindley 

Oration Hon. Charles F. Buck 

Ancient Druidic History, Address . . T. W. Malcolm, P. A. 

Ancient Druids, Centennial Anniversary . New Orleans Times . 

Druidism, Address W. R. Vaughan 



199 

200 
205 
209 
215 
231 
237 



CONTENTS 



13 



THE ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 



Historical 

Ancient Order of Foresters, English 
Independent Order of Foresters . 
Foresters' Island .... 
Foresters in Australia, Address . 
" Our Guest " ; A Reply to the Toast 
Annual Church Service, A Sermon . 
Memorial Address .... 
Regaining the Loss .... 



Foresters of America 
Selected . 
Toronto Times 
Dr. Oronhyatkha 
Dr. W. F. Montague . 
Archdeacon E. Davis 
Gen. George B. Loud 
Ind. Forester . 



PAGE 

251 
251 

- 253 

256 
261 
265 
272 
277 
, 283 



IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN 

Historical 285 

Patriotism of the Order .... George E. Green . 287 

Washington, Address Frederick H. Rice . . 298 

The Example of Washington, Oration . Chauncey M. Depezv . 302 

Tamina's Day, Address .... Andrew H. Paton . . 306 

Tamina's Traditions, Address . . . Dr. S. L. Mitchell . 311 

Funeral Ode Representative Cole . 315 

ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN 

Historical 317 

Fraternal Greetings, Address . . . Charles G. Hinds . 318 

Address of Welcome Hon. Robert A. Smith . 323 

Response Webb McNall . . 325 

Presentation Address ..... Master Workman Wilson 327 

Burial Service, Ode and Ritual . . . .... 328 

The Honored Dead . . . . . Selected . . . . 333 

Work of Father Upchurch . . . Fraternal Tribune . 335 

Our Reserve Fund A. O. U. W, Overseer . 336 

KNIGHTS OF HONOR 

Historical 330 

KNIGHTS AND LADIES OF HONOR 

Historical . . . 341 

The Twofold Object of the Order . . Selected ... 342 

The Growth of Fraternity .... Selected .... 344 

Life Insurance a Christian Duty . . Presbyterian Messenger 347 



ROYAL ARCANUM 



Historical . 

Twenty-Fifth Anniversary, Greeting 

Fraternity, Address .... 

The Growth of Fraternity, Address . 

An Era of Fraternalism, Address 

The Future of Fraternalism 

The Fraternal Spirit .... 

True Fraternity, A Sermon 

Fraternity and Business 

The Qaurch and Fraternity, A Sermon 

Danger of Fraternal Apathy, Address 

Virtue, Mercy, and Charity, Address 



Joseph A. LangUtt 
Hon. John A. Lee . 
Hon. Charles H. Avery 
Walter Allen Rice . 
G. D. Eldridge . 
Selected 

Rev. W. A. Broadhursi . 
The Modemograph 
Rev. George F. K&nngott 
E.* E. Dow . 
William (7. Olmsted 



349 
35o 
354 
357 
361 
362 
367 
368 
370 
372 
373 
377 



H 



CONTENTS 



Modern Spirit of Brotherhood, A Sermon 
Royal Arcanum and the Royal Law, *A 

Sermon 

Law of Protection, Installation Address 
The Fraternal System, Address 

Installation Address 

Address of Welcome ..... 
Fellowship, A Sermon .... 
Installation Night, A Poem 
Our Emblem, The Button, a Poem . 
Rally Song . • . . . 

Royal Arcanum Glee .... 

Closing Ode 

Decorations of Graves, Memorial Address 

MACCABEES 
Historical. — Ladies of the Maccabees 
Certificate Conditions, Address . 



Rev. M. Bronk • 

Rev. A. S. Burrows 

E. Farrier . 
Joseph A. Langfitt . 
/. S. Cap en 
Hon. Fitzhugh Hall 
Rev. N. E. Yeiser 
Delos Everett 

F. K. Weaver 
E. L. McDowell 
E. L. McDowell . 
Charles R. Taylor . 
Harvey R. Harris 



Hon. D. D. Aitken 



PAGE 

381 

382 
384 
388 
394 
398 
400 
408 
410 
412 
413 
414 
415 



419 
422 



NATIONAL UNION 

Historical 429 

Man's Duty to his Family, Sermon . Rev. M. A. Matthews . 430 

MODERN WOODMEN OF AMERICA 

Historical. — Woodmen of the World ... . . . . 435 

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY EMPLOYEES 

Historical 437 

Biennial Address • John T. Wilson . . 438 

Address Mrs. Alice C. Mulkey . 444 

Address . . . . . . B. K. Wagner . . 450 

Intelligent Co-operation .... Selected .... 459 

MYSTIC WORKERS 

Historical 463 

Address of Welcome .... George N. Holt . . 463 

Response . Supreme Master Howe . 465 

Opening Invocation • Rev. Snyder . . 467 

Prayer Brother Palmer ; . 467 



PART I'll 
REFORMATORY, RELIGIOUS FRATERNITIES 

SONS OF TEMPERANCE 

Historical • . . .471 

A Knock at the Door of Christ's Church, 

Address ...... Rev.Theo. L.Cuyler, D.D. 474 

Welcome to Washington . . . , F. M. Bradley, P. M. . 481 

Installation Address .... Eugene H. Clapp, P. M. 485 

Address of Welcome . < . . . J. S. Littell, P. M. . 486 

Responsive Address . , , , . Rev. R. Alder Temple 486 



CONTENTS 15 

PAGE 

Address of Response • Benj. R. Jewell, Esq. . 488 

Address of Greeting .... Hon. Oliver Ames . 493 
Memorial Tributes on the death of Gen. 

Clinton B. Fisk .... R. Alder Temple, Dr. 

A. E. Ballard, E. H. 

Clapp, Gen. Rusting . 495 
James A. Garfield, A Tribute from the 

Sons of Temperance ........ 497 

John B. Gough, Obituary Reference ....... 498 

In Memoriam, Resolution of Thanks . 500 

Annual Address Eugene H. Clapp . . 500 

Installation of Officers, Address . . E. H. Clapp . . 504 

Inaugural Address R. A. Temple . . 505 

CADETS OF TEMPERANCE 

Historical 509 

The Work among the Young, Address . F. M. Bradley, P. M. 509 

Loyal Crusaders Selected • • • 51 5 

GOOD TEMPLARS 

Historical . .519 

Educating Temperance Opinions . . James H. Rapeer, Esq. 521 

RECHABITES 

Historical 527 

Temperance in -New Zealand, Address . John Harding, Esq. • 527 

TEMPLARS OF HONOR 
Historical . . .531 

ROYAL TEMPLARS 

Historical 533 

Lessons from Our History ........ 533 

Instituting a new Council, Address . . Charles Mills . . .536 

Perseverance Wins • . . . J. W. Grosvenor, M. D. 539 

HIBERNIANS 

Historical • . . • .543 

Progress of the Order, Address at the 

Forty-second Biennial Convention . John T. Keating . • 544 



PART IV 
VARIOUS ORDERS AND SOCIETIES 

HISTORICAL STATEMENTS 

American Legion of Honor 556 

American Protective Association . . . ' . . . • 553 

American Protestant Association 553 

B'nai B'rith (Children of die Covenant) . . * • . . 554 



1 6 CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Brotherhood of the Union • • • • • . • . • 554 

Catholic Knights of America . • • • • • . . 555 

Catholic Mutual Benefit Association • . • . . . 562 

Fraternal Aid Association .••••••.. 560 

Fraternal Mystic Circle • . . . . 558 

German Order of Harugari . . . . 565 

Grand United Order of Galilean Fisherman ...... 566 

Home Circle ' 558 

Improved Order of Heptasophs 557 

Independent Order of Free Sons of Israel . . . . . . 555 

Independent Order of Sons of Benjamin . . . . . .555 

Junior Order United American Mechanics . • . . . 568 

Knights of Columbus 565 

Knights of the Golden Eagle • ••..... 562 

Knights and Ladies of the Golden Star 561 

Knights and Ladies of Security ••...... 559 

Loyal Orange Institution . . . . . . .. # 566 

National Protective Legion ........ 560 

National Provident Union . . . . . . m . .559 

New England Order Protection . • . . . # . „ 558 

New Order of Chosen Friends ••...... 563 

Order of Sparta 559 

Order of Sons of St. George 566 

Order of United American Mechanics 567 

Patriotic Order Sons of America 562 

Royal League 557 

Royal Neighbors of America 561 

Royal Society of Good Fellows 557 

Shield of Honor 561 

Sons of Hermann ........... 566 

Supreme Tribe Ben-Hur •••••«••. 560 

St. Patrick's Alliance of America 565 

United Order of the Golden Cross (Temperance) .... 561 

United Order of Pilgrim Fathers . . . . . . . 557 



INTRODUCTORY 



FRATERNITY 



The National Fraternal Press Association in conven- 
tion at Washington, D. C, Feb. 4, 1903, were received 
by President Theodore Roosevelt in the Cabinet room. 

Mr. E. N. Haag, Vice President, spoke for the dele- 
gation, and said: 

Mr. President: On behalf of the officers and repre- 
sentatives of the National Fraternal Press Association, 
we extend our greeting and tender you our sincere 
thanks for the great courtesy and kindness shown our 
Association in receiving us at this time, when, as we 
know, your time is so closely occupied with weighty mat- 
ters of state. 

We represent six million members of the Fraternal 
and Beneficial Associations in this country, and upwards 
of four hundred and seventy-five journals conducted to 
further the worthy aims and objects of Fraternal societies. 

Mr. President, these great organizations have, during 
the about thirty years since they began their work in this 
country, paid to widows and orphans and beneficiaries of 
deceased members, over six hundred million dollars, and 
they are undoubtedly one of the greatest powers in the 
land for good, and the protection of the home and those 
hallowed associations connected with it. 

These Orders, which teach morality, temperance, 
thrift, and pure government, are in keeping with the 

17 



1 8 INTRODUCTORY 

high code of honor and morality which you, Mr. Presi- 
dent, have always given utterance to, both in your writ- 
ings and public speeches. We desire, as Fraternalists, 
to acknowledge our appreciation of what you have done 
and are doing in this connection, furthering the ends of 
true Fraternalism and human brotherhood. 

It will no doubt be of great interest to you to know 
that the vast sum of money paid annually to those who 
are most in need of it, amounting last year and every 
year to over fifty-five million dollars, is collected in small 
sums, paid by our members for the most part in small 
monthly payments, and distributed at a minimum of 
expense, less than ten per cent, of the amount collected 
from the membership. These Orders are, as we believe, 
doing one of the most beneficent works carried on any- 
where in the civilized world, and as such are worthy and 
deserving of the consideration of the law-makers and all 
who have the betterment of humanity and the protection 
of their best interests near to their hearts. 

We have come to Washington to hold a conference to 
devise ways to secure relief, by legislation or otherwise, 
from some evils from which the publishers of the Frater- 
nal publications are suffering, and from which, we believe, 
they are justly entitled to relief. By hampering them in 
their work, in effect, the great cause of Fraternalism is 
being impeded. 

Mr. President, in behalf of the membership of these 
Fraternal and Beneficial Orders and the publishers of 
the journals representing them, we again beg to. thank 
you for the courtesy and consideration you have 
shown us. 



INTRODUCTORY 19 

Response by President Theodore Roosevelt. 

Gentlemen of the National Fraternal Press Associa- 
tion : I am delighted and exceedingly pleased to meet you, 
especially in view of the nature of the interests you repre- 
sent — you being the representatives of institutions whose 
business it is to care for the home. If I am not greatly 
mistaken, you have the same objects in view, and are 
adopting largely the same methods of government which 
prevail in the National Government of our country, and 
no government will ever be perfect until every citizen 
can say : ' I am my brother's keeper.' It is very gratify- 
ing to me to learn of the magnificent work your societies 
have already accomplished in relieving the necessities of 
the widows and orphans of your deceased members. In 
working out the great problems which confront our 
nation we must depend wholly upon the sentiments which 
actuate and pervade your Fraternities, viz., the brother- 
hood of man and the sacredness of American home life. 

I am confident that, in the final analysis, we shall find 
that the stability of our government depends not so much 
on our armies and navies, though they may be vastly 
important, but rather we will have to depend upon the 
brotherhood of humanity as represented in the great Fra- 
ternities. The Fraternal societies represented by your 
association are in my opinion one of the greatest powers 
for good government and the protection of the home 
that we have in the country. This government will en- 
dure just so long as we protect the great interests repre- 
sented by your Orders. 

I thank you, gentlemen, for this interview, and I am 
heartily with you in this great Fraternal work, and trust 
that you may succeed in your present mission to 
Washington. 



20 INTRODUCTORY 



FRATERNALISM 

BY PRESIDENT OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CHARLES W. ELIOT. 

The domestic affections are the principal sources of 
human happiness and well-being. The mutual loves of 
husband and wife, of parents and children, of brothers 
and sisters, are not only the chief sources of happiness, 
but the chief springs of action and the chief safeguards 
from evil. The young man and the young woman work 
and save in order that they may be married, and have a 
home of their own; once married, they work and save 
that they may bring up well the family. The supreme 
object of the struggling and striving of most men is the 
family. One might almost say that the security and ele- 
vation of the family and of the family life are the prime 
objects of civilization and the ultimate ends of all indus- 
try and trade. And it is this love of family that is prac- 
tically the key-note of Fraternal operation. The mar- 
velous growth of Fraternalism in this country has been 
made possible by the fact that Americans love their homes, 
their wives, and their children as do the men of but few 
other nations. In consequence, the Fraternal system has 
grown and developed until it now ranks among the largest 
and most pretentious institutions of human endeavor. 
Without the love of home and interests, we would be but 
simply as creatures floating on the waves of human 
endeavor, regardless as to whether or no these be of pros- 
perity or adversity. With home interests as the shibbo- 
leth by which to conjure, we have a fixed and vital interest 
that dominates all others. We, therefore, work toward 
these as our central and underlying ends, and we make 
all other interests subservient to them. By virtue of the 



INTRODUCTORY 21 

operation of the Fraternal system, we not only make pro- 
vision for the future in the event of unforeseen contin- 
gencies, but we lay the foundations of mutual operation 
and assistance by which we can accomplish far more in the 
general walks of life than we can individually. Certainly 
these conditions, if there were no others, would more 
than suffice to set forth the causes which led up to the for- 
mation of Fraternal societies and which have since 
brought about their wonderful growth and expansion. 
Fraternal Guide, Newark, N. J., June, 1903. 



WHAT IS FRATERNITY? 

Fraternity, which has climbed mountains, and placed 
its banner on their top-most heights ; which has descended 
into the depths of the earth, and amid the blackness and 
darkness of the mines set up the torch of brotherly love ; 
which has crossed the seas, oceans, and deserts, and 
wherever civilization has extended its footsteps, or Chris- 
tianity erected its throne, builded its altars, lifted its 
shield above the head of the widow or orphan, and thrown 
a protecting cordon of living hearts and hands around 
*the suffering and distressed. It was Fraternity that 
gave to us the Golden Rule. It was that great principle 
which caused the star of ancient Masonry to rise in the 
East and appear to the builders of Solomon's temple. 
Fires were lighted in its honor by the Foresters and Red 
Men in their wigwams in Revolutionary days. Odd 
Fellows lighted a taper in Old England, and Thomas 
Wildey caused a flame to rise in this country. Justice 
Rathbone sent for the lamp of Pythianism to wield co-op- 
eration with Fraternity, and Father Upchurch presented 
to the world the electric Fraternal light of the nineteenth 



22 INTRODUCTORY 

century — the Ancient Order of United Workmen — and 
the mightiest conceivable results have followed in the 
pecuniary protection of home and family. What was it 
that caused thousands of our bravest and best men to 
leave office and workshop, farm and field, to man the guns 
of Dewey's ships, and don the blue of Uncle Sam to 
peril life on sea and land, for a foreign people? It was 
because a symbolizing fraternity amid the Stars and 
Stripes in the Spanish War not only typified America's 
watchword, but the slogan of every legitimate Order: 
" Good-will and protection for the defenseless and the 
needy/' What was it that caused the supply-ship, laden 
with food for starving foes, to be the first to enter the con- 
quered port, and instead of armed victors, Clara Barton 
took possession? It was the result of the teachings of 
Fraternity. A bright ray has appeared in Russia, and the 
nations of the earth are now in Fraternity council. There 
are those with whitened heads who have labored for years 
for Fraternity and who have often been disappointed, 
but there is many a rest in the road of life, if we would 
only stop to take it. Let us all cordially greet Fraternity 
and its mission. Protector. 



FRATERNALISM 

Fraternalism may be said to have four great pur- 
poses : ( i ) To establish a bond of social union between 
individuals, teaching them that they are interdependent 
upon each other, and that, therefore, the well-being and 
progress of the one means a similar condition for the 
other. (2) To provide a fund for the family of the one 
who dies prematurely. (3) To protect business against 
the disastrous consequences of early or sudden death. 



INTRODUCTORY 23 

(4) To provide a fund for old age in the form of an 
annual income or annuity for life. These conditions, it 
is believed, summarize the life work of man. If he fails 
to meet them, his life has been a failure. No one with 
the heart and instincts of a man wishes to fail in any 
of these things. They are the things for which he labors 
early and late, toward which he bends his best thought 
and most strenuous effort. 

One is exasperated almost beyond measure these days 
by the apologetic tone with which many of our Fraternal 
members explain their connection with these institutions. 
For some incomprehensible reason they seem to fear to 
wear the badge of the society with which they are con- 
nected, or to otherwise give evidence to the world that 
they are Fraternalists, and that they glory in this fact. 
Brothers, if our system is to prosper, if it is to gradually 
and surely move forward to the plane which properly 
attaches to it, we must get rid of such barnacles which 
have fastened themselves upon our cause. We must 
impress upon them the fact that our system is one of an 
elevating and ennobling character ; that it has as its cen- 
tral purpose the upbuilding of those who have connected 
themselves with it, and that all who are ashamed to 
acknowledge this as the guiding motive of their action 
have not yet realized the full scope and import of our 
work. National Fraternal Press Association. 



THE GROWTH OF FRATERNITY 

It is not the spirit or the purpose or the province of a 
newspaper of general circulation to investigate too closely 
the records of Fraternalism. To some people the Fra- 
ternal idea seems to have run wild ; as much so as in the 



24 INTRODUCTORY 

closing years of the last century, when, in London alone 
there were over one hundred organizations which lived 
any while from one to twenty years, and most of which 
had no other basis than conviviality or politics. Two 
great and world-wide organizations sprang into existence 
out of the ashes of this era of Fraternalism, although the 
basis of noble charity on which both were founded had 
existed long before them, and had found a sort of partial 
exemplification. 

When the ridiculous and semi-profane Orders typified 
by the " Monks of Medmenham," of which John Wilkes 
was a burning and shining light, had gone to their nat- 
ural end, there was seen to be a principle worth recog- 
nizing and perpetuating, namely, that friendship, like 
memory, is strengthened by association. Of the three 
surviving Orders of that era of Fraternity and Philan- 
thropy, the Foresters represent the third. Of the polit- 
ical organizations that came out of the Revolutionary 
eras of 1793 and 1849, the Carbonari still numbers a few 
survivors ; but all the rest are gone. 

The time came, in comparatively recent years, when 
men of large minds began to discern that the Fraternal 
principle might be applied to life assurance. The old- 
line insurance companies charged heavy rates, main- 
tained expensive offices and heavily salaried employees. 
It was thought by those who had made a study of the sub- 
ject that the matter might be so financed on a sound basis 
that there could be established in the United States and 
Canada an organization in which the members, by pay- 
ing small dues monthly and assessments according to the 
number of deaths, but limited to a certain annual amount, 
might be able to insure life without charging heavy pre- 
miums, and at the same time bring the members together 
for social purposes and for mutual improvement. 



INTRODUCTORY *5 

The Ancient Order of United Workmen was thus 
established thirty years ago, and remains to-day one of 
the most substantial concerns of Fraternal life assurance 
in the land. Other organizations, such as the Hepta- 
sophs, the Royal Arcanum, and, more recently, the Mac- 
cabees, and the Woodmen of the World, have since been 
established on this principle, and it was a gathering of 
the latter which so strongly exemplified the Fraternal 
spirit in this city last night. Organizations of this sort 
are distinct from the older surviving oath-bound organi- 
zations, in the respect that they are regarded without dis- 
favor by the hierarchy of all churches. 

And the principle has also come to be recognized within 
the last twenty years that women can render valuable 
aid to these societies, either as annexes or as direct bene- 
ficiaries, and in full equality with the sterner sex, which 
at one time had a monopoly of secrets and benefits. Some 
of the new organizations draw no line of demarcation at 
all in this respect, but the subject need not be pursued 
on the general line. 

The point is that the spirit of Fraternity has become a 
part and parcel of life and society in this city of Fresno. 
In no other town of its size is the movement so w T ell and 
so widely diffused. It extends from the highest social 
spheres to the lowest. It reaches into colleges and schools. 
It has done this much, if it has done nothing else, that it 
has spread broadcast the noble principles embodied in the 
Golden Rule, and has brought all classes of society closer 
together on this splendid and imperishable basis. There 
are Brotherhoods and Orders, even in the churches, and 
the members of the most widely divergent religious 
organizations have acquired through this source a prin- 
ciple of toleration eminently favorable to the growth of 
civilization. Fresno Democrat, CaL 



26 INTRODUCTORY 



INHERENT STRENGTH OF FRATERNALISM 

BY E. N. HAAG, VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL 
FRATERNAL PRESS ASSOCIATION 

The Fraternal societies are, in my opinion, one of the greatest 
powers for good government and the protection of the home that 
we have in the country. This government will endure just so 
long as we protect the great interests represented by the Fraternal 
orders. President Theodore Roosevelt. 

There is danger that, in the highly commendable zeal 
there has been the past few years to place the Fraternal 
orders on a sound financial basis, sight has been lost, to 
some extent at least, of the fundamental principles of 
true Fraternalism, without which it would lose much of 
its potency. 

The most vital element of Fraternalism is inherent in 
the system itself. It is the possibility for the accomplish- 
ment of tremendous beneficial results where all working 
together in the cause are actuated by those impulses of 
unselfish motives which recognize the truth of the precept 
that " I am my brother's keeper/' It is this which has 
made possible the achievement during the past thirty 
years of the seemingly impossible to those who have not 
been able to see further than the compilation of cold 
mathematical tables; it is the same heart-throbs of the 
membership of the Fraternal orders of this country which 
will enable them to continue their work to the end of time. 

There are two or three points in regard to the Frater- 
nal system which should, consequently, be carefully 
borne in mind by its friends at this time. The most im- 
portant of these, it would seem, is to stay the hand of 
those who would, either in their mistaken zeal or because 
they have an ulterior motive, correct the Fraternal plan 



INTRODUCTORY 27 

by legislation in the various States. It is but a short step 
between the enactment of a compulsory assessment rate, 
and the requirement of a legal reserve and surrender 
values. Already many of the old-line insurance journals 
are filled with hints that the time is not far distant when 
the Fraternal orders will be compelled to come up to these 
requirements. It is not hard to guess who are going to 
attempt to do the " compelling/' 

We do not desire, in this connection, to discuss the 
pros and cons of assessment tables, or just what a cer- 
tificate should promise or guarantee, but simply to em- 
phasize the point that if, after mature deliberation and 
consideration, any new features like this are to be 
ingrafted upon the Fraternal plan, it should be done by 
its friends and not its enemies. 

The attempt to enact hostile legislation against Fra- 
ternal orders in a number of the States recently warned 
Fraternalists to be on their guard. With the 6,000,000 
membership of these orders and their upwards of 30,- 
000,000 beneficiaries, they are a power which cannot be 
withstood, provided they work unitedly and do not waste 
their energies by misdirected efforts, such as the Uniform 
Bill would undoubtedly have proved itself had it become 
a law in all the various States in its original form. 

The strength of Fraternalism in this country, it must 
also not be forgotten, rests very largely upon the main- 
tenance of a Lodge system. This does not mean that 
Fraternalism shall stand still. The successful lodge 
meeting of to-day differs widely from that of a decade 
ago, and there is no doubt that the future will witness 
still further improvement in this respect. The social 
features have come to play a great part in the modern 
lodge, and as such give even greater opportunities to 
the members than did the close adherence to ritualistic 



28 INTRODUCTORY 

forms which characterized the earlier history of Frater- 
nalism. The lodge-room has lost much of its mystery, 
and has become the social center in most communities, 
and this is as it should be. Signs, symbols, and secret 
work are essential, but those lodges which frequently 
afford social entertainments for the families and friends 
of their members are apt to grow most rapidly and have 
the strongest hold in the community. 

While, by reason of the smaller expense element nec- 
essary to conduct the Fraternal plan over old-line life, 
it will always be possible to furnish the membership abso- 
lutely safe protection at a lesser rate, still there seems to 
have been a tendency during the past few years to limit 
the discussion largely to the question as to whether Fra- 
ternalism or old-line- life furnishes better and more eco- 
nomical financial protection. 

Important as is the financial feature, it is but one of 
the many desirable elements which go to make up Fra- 
ternalism. An old-line life insurance company furnishes 
simply insurance for which, by reason of its more expen- 
sive system, and the fact that it is conducted for the 
profit of its stockholders, it is compelled to charge more 
for exactly the same thing furnished by a Fraternal order 
operated on an absolutely sound plan. In addition to 
the financial protection afforded by the latter, it also min- 
isters to the sick, comforts the distressed, affords social 
entertainment for its membership, and does a score of 
other things which are familiar to every true Frater- 
nalist, and for none of which it charges anything. Fra- 
ternalism, therefore, has a right to not only expect, but 
demand, the absolute loyalty of its membership, and that 
they shall at all times and under all circumstances exert 
themselves to their utmost to spread abroad the glad 
tidings, so that others may enjoy the same blessing vouch- 



INTRODUCTORY 29 

safed them through the system. Deputies and those 
whose work it is to solicit others to join the Fraternal 
orders, should be taught to emphasize this point more 
than they do. Instead of saying, " our order furnishes 
you $1000 worth of protection for so much, which in old- 
life would cost you so much/' they should also emphasize 
the additional points referred to in favor of Fraternalism. 
The future of Fraternalism in this country will also 
depend to a larger extent than many suppose upon the 
support given it by the upwards of five hundred journals 
published in behalf of the cause. A special duty devolves 
upon the editors of these journals along the lines indi- 
cated. The recognition recently secured for them at 
Washington through the efforts of the National Fraternal 
Press Association is indicative of the fact, which is con- 
stantly becoming more patent, that Fraternalism has be- 
come recognized as one of the most vital pow r ers in this 
country for the maintenance of good government and the 
protection of the home. 

Fraternal Monitor, May, 1903. 



PART I 

SOCIAL AND BENEVOLENT 
BROTHERHOODS 



FREEMASONRY 

Historical. — A certain class of Freemasons have been accus- 
tomed to claim for their Order a very ancient origin. It has 
been traced back to the Dionysiac Fraternity among the Greek 
colonists of Asia Minor, among whom it is said the architects 
and builders of the temples and theaters and other public struc- 
tures formed themselves into associations for mutual improve- 
ment and protection. 

It is thought that such an association was in existence in the 
city of Tyre when Solomon was engaged in the building of the 
Temple at Jerusalem, and that a band of workmen from this 
fraternity was sent to Solomon's help, Hiram Abiff, the " widow's 
son," being the leader of this band, and being given a prominent 
place in the designing and control of the sacred building. To 
him is attributed the large place which the Temple of Solomon 
holds in the ritual of modern Masonry. 

These traditions are not supported by any well-authenticated 
history, but the institution of Masonry, in some form at least, is 
believed by many careful writers to be traceable well back into 
the Middle Ages. It is thought, by some, to have originated in 
companies of builders of that time, who ranged through Europe, 
finding employment in the erection of the great cathedrals, some 
of which were centuries in reaching completion. As large num- 
bers of these builders were held a long time in one place, during 
the prosecution of these great works, it was natural that they 
should have organized associations among themselves, for mutual 
protection and help. Some such organizations are noted in the 
records of the time. 

They found their chief employment in the cathedrals and other 
great churches, which are the chief architectural remains of that 
age; and this sacred character of their work led to their recogni- 
tion and favor by many high ecclesiastics. The Pope even issued 
bulls granting them special privileges, and eminent men, not 
actual builders or architects, became honorary members of such 
associations. King Henry VI. of England, and King Henry VII. 
are said to have held such honorary membership ; and, in fact, the 
more these orders were honored by the fame of the great new 
buildings, and the more Kings and Prelates lent their patronage 
and association, the more outsiders, sought to claim, this honor- 
able fellowship. In time the age of special, g^eat J^uilddngrractivity 
passed away, but the societies of builders continued their organi- 

* 33 



34 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

zation, in part for the sake of the honor and pleasant fellowship 
they had come to enjoy. Many practical builders went away 
seeking new fields of work, but the societies were maintained, 
and came at length to have more honorary than practical mem- 
bers. The distinction in the membership between " operative " 
and " speculative " Masons came to be clearly recognized. 

The theory thus expressed, while not established by explicit 
records, seems reasonable to many well-informed members of 
the Masonic fraternity, and at least is hardly to be disproved. 

The nearest to a historical confirmation of this mediaeval 
origin of Masonry is the Diary of Elias Ashmole, an English 
antiquary, which describes his initiation into a lodge of such 
mediaeval Masons in 1646. The truthfulness of this Diary has 
been called in question, some holding that Ashmole and his friends 
really invented the Order, which he describes as already in exist- 
ence, and that it had no real connection whatever with practical 
Masonry. These doubts, however, are met by the tradition that 
there was an Order of operative Masons in London twenty years 
later, in 1666, of which Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of 
St. Paul's, was said to be Grand Master; and it is said that in 
1702 this Order extended its membership to men of various occu- 
pations and professions. 

This tradition joins itself on to the universally received fact 
that fifteen years later, in 1717, four Masonic Lodges assembled 
at the Apple-Tree Tavern, in London, and confirmed the exten- 
sion of membership to merely " speculative Masons," and formed 
themselves into a Grand Lodge. 

From this time on, historical notices are abundant, and there 
was a speedy transplanting of the Order to other countries ; 
Lodges being organized in France in 1725, and within ten years 
in most of the countries of Europe. A Lodge was formed in 
Boston, Mass., in 1733, and soon after in other American colonies. 

Much independence characterized the branching out of the 
Order into different regions, and the younger Lodges frequently 
refused to acknowledge the control of the body from which they 
sprung. Some were cut off for irregularity, and others declared 
their independence; and in many places the Orders history was 
a history of division, schism, and refusal of recognition. Some 
of the schismatic bodies died out, and some separated bodies were 
Drought back to united action; but even at the present time there 
are bodies calling themselves Masons, and apparently possessed 
of the Masonic ritual and usages, who are entirely disconnected 
with others of the same name. 

The date of 1717, when the four London Lodges met in the 
: Apple-Tree Tavern and formed themselves into a Grand Lodge, 
'is regarded generally as the beginning, of clearly recorded ,hi$tory 
of the Masonic Order. There- was, as far as known, at that time, 
only a single ceremonial or degree. Within three years, however, 
the three symbolic degrees, Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and 
Master Mascto, made their appearance. Other degrees in consid- 



FREEMASONRY 35 

erable number have since been adopted, but the forms chosen at 
that early time have gone with Masonry into all lands, and have 
remained its principal and characteristic distinction among people 
the most diverse down to the present time. In addition to the 
ritual, the Grand Lodge in London, in 1723, adopted a Constitu- 
tion, and this became the organic law of the Order, and has gone 
with it in this form into different lands. 

The Masonic organization on the continent of Europe has 
sometimes been used for political purposes and conspiracy, its 
secret meetings and forms being readily so applied. This has 
brought it under the ban of autocratic rulers and ecclesiastics, 
and its progress has been hindered. In America Masonry has 
flourished greatly. The disappearance and supposed abduction 
and murder of William Morgan, who had written an exposure 
of the secret ritual, created intense excitement for a time. The 
act was repudiated and condemned by most Masonic Lodges, but 
the bitter opposition springing from it inspired for a time a 
strong, though local political movement; and some church com- 
munions made pronounced declaration of condemnation of all 
secret organizations, and this condemnation is still found in the 
constitutions of some churches. Under these attacks Masonry 
for a time declined; but subsequently the strong opposition 
seemed to pass away, and the Order has had, especially during the 
latter part of the nineteenth century, a most prosperous growth 
in the United States. 

Higher Degrees of Masonry. — When the Grand Lodge was 
formed in London in 1717, there was, as far as is known, only 
a single ceremonial or degree; but within a few years the three 
symbolic degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master 
Mason made their appearance. These three characteristic degrees 
of Masonry have continued unchanged to the present time, and 
are practically alike in all lands. 

To this simple form of universal Masonry other ceremonies 
have been added from time to time, and have been known as the 
different degrees of the Order. These degrees have been quite 
numerous, and most Masons have known but few of them. Some 
degrees, on the other hand, have been very popular, even eclips- 
ing in common notice the earlier and simpler ceremonies on 
which they were founded. The introduction of novel ceremonies 
was opposed in some lodges, and led to secession of subordinate 
lodges and divisions in the Grand bodies ; but a number of rituals 
succeeded in winning wide approval, and many lodges affiliated 
with Masonry were built up, some of which became speedily 
known, by their wide popular success, as orders dependent upon 
the Masonic system, but managing their. own affairs more or .less 
independently. A score'- of rites were established in different 
countries, and had a temporary -success, .'.but finally died. out. .But 
of the 1,400,060 Masons in the world; it is probable that 725,000 
now hold the "Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite/' and 118,000 
the "American Rite*" 



36 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

The American Rite is practiced only in the United States and 
Canada, and adds to the three older degrees, first, the degrees 
of Mark Master, Past Master, Most Excellent Master, and Royal 
Arch Mason ; second, the degrees of Royal Master, Select Mas- 
ter, and Super-Excellent Master ; and third, Companion of the 
Illustrious Order of the Red Cross, Knight Templar, and Knight 
of St. John and Malta. 

The Royal Arch degree was originally conferred, probably as 
early as 1740, as a supplement to the Master's degree; but ulti- 
mately Royal Arch Chapters were formed, and later a Supreme 
Royal Arch Chapter. In 1798 delegates from nine Royal Arch 
Chapters met at Hartford, Conn., and formed a Grand Royal 
Arch Chapter, which continues to meet triennially, and is the 
governing body of most of the American chapters. 

The Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. — The most popular 
and widely diffused of the higher Masonic rites is the Ancient 
Accepted Scottish Rite, established not earlier than 1801. A 
"Lodge of Perfection" was organized in Albany, N. Y,, in 1767, 
to confer high Masonic degrees. This Lodge was dormant from 
1774 till 1821, but was then revived, and is still in existence, and 
said to be the oldest high-grade Masonic organization in the 
world. Another Lodge of Perfection appeared in Philadelphia 
in 1781, and another in Charleston, S. C, in in 1783. These 
Lodges had power to confer twenty-five high degrees. 

The history of the development of the Scottish Rite from these 
Lodges of Perfection is full of claims and counter-claims of 
jurisdiction, and not altogether easy to follow; but the substan- 
tial fact remains that the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite started 
in America in a Supreme Council of the United States, at 
Charleston, S. C, in.1801. A Northern Jurisdiction appears at 
New York in 1806. The Order north and south increased and 
strengthened. Separated by the Civil War of i86i-'65, the Su- 
preme Councils came together on the return of peace, and the 
latter growth and prosperity has far exceeded that of the earlier 
days, until now Scottish Rite Halls are a common feature of 
most American cities, and, as has been said, 125,000 Masons are 
connected with this higher branch of the Order. 

Knights Templars. — Almost as popular and successful as the 
Scottish Rite has been the career of the Knights Templars. 
Templary, like Masonry, has its ancient traditions, which are 
kept fresh by its ritual, and some members of the Order derive 
it by direct succession from the original Knights Templars of 
Jerusalem. The legend is that at the building of the Temple of 
Solomon they were organized as a guard for the Holy Place. 
The Temple had long been laid waste when, in the eleventh cen- 
tury, a band of comrades was formed to help hold the Holy City 
against the Saracens. They had been widely k'noVn as among 
the most daring crusaders, and had grown to great wealth and 
influence, so that many European rulers looked askance at them/ 



FREEMASONRY 37 

especially as, having been dispossessed in Jerusalem by the Turks, 
they drifted back to Europe, and made themselves felt in Italy 
and France as a powerful if not dangerous organization. Their 
Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, was arrested and cast into 
prison, where he died ; and in 1314 King Philip the Fair and Pope 
Clement V. united in decreeing their suppression and the confis- 
cation of their property. 

Sober historians have looked upon this as the end of the 
Ancient Order of Knights Templars. 

But in 1705, Philip, Duke of Orleans, brought out in France 
a paper purporting to be from the hand of Jacques de Molay 
while in prison, and given by him to Larmenius, appointing him 
his successor, and entrusting to him the care of the scattered 
Order, and empowering him to appoint his own successor, and 
so secure its perpetuation. 

The Duke of Orleans made this alleged charter the center of 
a secret political organization, which was declared to be the true 
successor of the old Knights of the Temple. 

This organization held a fitful course until it died in the 
French Revolution. It had, however, revived the history of the 
original Templars, and had a ritual based upon that, and in 
1804-05 a revival was made, which became affiliated with Ma- 
sonry, Templary had also been introduced into Masonic socie- 
ties from Scotland, where the Templars had been quite strong, 
and by this connection, more or less shadowy, modern Templary 
has been traced to the Ancient Knights of the Temple. 

The modern Knights Templars is a branch of Masonry, uni- 
formed and military in its organization, and its popularity is so 
great, that it is commonly regarded as a distinct Order. Its dis- 
tinctive public appearance is in its dark and beautiful military 
uniform, and perfect drill in its marching; but it differs in its 
constitution from Masonry, by being a distinctly Christian organ- 
ization, the Cross being an ever-present emblem, and its ritual 
taking color from the life and work of Christ. A Mason must 
believe in God, but he may be of any religious faith, a Jew, Bud- 
dhist, Mohammedan; but a Knight Templar can be nothing but 
a Christian. 

English Modern Templary is said to have been derived from 
Baldwyn Encampment at Bristol, which had existed " from time 
immemorial," or from one or more Encampments at London, 
York, Bath, and Salisbury, where refugee Knights of the Ancient 
Order made their headquarters. These ancient connections, how- 
ever, have very doubtful historic validity, and the earliest recorded 
Templary at Baldwyn Encampment is not traced beyond 1779 or 
1780, ten years after we hear of some sort of Templary in the 
United States, which had been introduced from Ireland. 

English Templary took shape in 1791, in a General Conclave 
organized that year under the name, " The Royal, Exalted, Relig- 
ious, and Military Order of H. R. D. M., Grand Elected Masonic 
Knights Templars, K. D. S. H. of St. John of Jerusalem, Pales- 



38 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

tine, Rhodes, etc." From this time English Knights Templars 
came gradually into more regular connection with existing 
English Masonry, and appeared as a high, military, and Chris- 
tian degree of that order; Masonry in its older form recognizing 
none but a universal religion, while the Templars make conspic- 
uous the sign of the Cross, and abound in allusions to the Chris- 
tian religion, for which mediaeval or ancient Templary was organ- 
ized as a defense. 

The definition of Masonic Knighthood, by T. S. Paroin, in the 
American Appendix to Gould's " History of Freemasonry," says : 
" It is a society eminently Christian, purged of all the leaven of 
heathen rites and traditions, and to which none are admitted but 
members of a Masonic body, and such only as profess themselves 
to be Trinitarian Christians." 

The Knights Templars of the United States held a Triennial 
Conclave in Boston in 1895, m which Hugh McCurdy, Past 
Grand Master of the Grand Encampment, delivered an address, 
in which he said : 

" Modern Templary is a Christian Association of Freemasons, 
adhering sacredly to the traditions of the military orders of the 
Crusades, strictly following, so far as possible, their principles 
and customs, yielding obedience to their teachings, and accepting 
unconditionally their Trinitarian doctrine. The teachings are 
founded upon the Bible, and a Templar must be a Christian, for, 
it is said, the practice of Christian virtues is the avowed purpose 
of their affiliation. Non nobis Domine is their motto, and In 
hoc signo vinces is still their legend." 

A Grand Encampment of Pennsylvania was formed in 1794, 
and a second one in 1797. In 1805, the United States Grand En- 
campment, that of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, was formed, 
and in 18 14, a Grand Encampment of the State of New York, 
and in 1816, a convention of eight Encampments, five from New 
England and three from New York State, was held in Hartford, 
Conn., and organized the Grand Encampment of Knights Temp- 
lars, U. S. A., which finally became the Supreme American Temp- 
lar body. 

Since the Civil War the Order has grown rapidly, numbering 
in 1900, 116,000 members. 

Order of Eastern Star. — This is a charitable and benevolent 
society of wives, widows, sisters, and daughters of Masons, to 
which Master Masons also are eligible. 

A printed ritual of an " Ancient and Honorable Order of the 
Eastern Star " is in existence, together with an account of its 
meeting in Boston, Mass., May 18, 1793. This declares that the 
Society performed an effective work of charity during the War 
of the Revolution. This account is said to declare that this work 
was carried on during the War of 1812. The account would 
seem to have been written, then, after the War of 18 12, and it 
is also doubtful whether a female branch of Masonry existed in 
Boston in 1793, sixty years after the regular introduction of 



FREEMASONRY 39 

Masonry in 1733. It is, however, probable that some such branch 
did follow speedily after the introduction of the Order itself. 
Similar female societies are said to have been established on 
the continent of Europe, called " Lodges of Adoption." 

We reach historic ground in the initiation at Oxford, Miss., 
March 5, 1846, of Robert Morris, who the next year received 
with his wife, a " side," or " unsystematized Masonic degree," 
entitled, " The Heroine of Jericho." This greatly interested him, 
though only a local matter, unrecognized by any competent Ma- 
sonic authority; and from its suggestions he is said to have 
devised the Order of the Eastern Star in 1850. He did not suc- 
ceed in getting his Order recognized as a branch of Freemasonry, 
but started it fairly among a number of his acquaintances in 
1853, and in 1855 instituted " Constellation No. 1, Purity," at 
Lodge, Fulton County, Kentucky. He established himself as 
Grand Luminary, with headquarters at Lexington, Ky., and some 
two hundred Constellations were formed in the United States. 

The Order was not thoroughly successful, and Morris, in 1866, 
sailed for the Holy Land, and turned over his rights in it to 
Robert Macoy, an eminent Mason of New York. Macoy reor- 
ganized the society, making a new start, in 1868, with a company 
of ladies who had been active in a great Masonic fair, and the 
Order grew prosperously in New York and its vicinity. Later, 
new " Families," as they were now called, were established in 
nearly every State in the Union, as well as in Cuba, Mexico, and 
Central and South America. The " Supreme Council of the 
Adoptive Rite of the World" was instituted in New York, June 
14, 1873, at a time when a meeting of the General Grand Council 
of Royal and Select Masters (American Rite of Freemasonry) 
was held in that city. Macoy and Morris were both active in 
forming this " Supreme Council," but this seems to have been 
superseded by the General Grand Chapter of the Order, formed 
at Chicago in 1876, as to part of the Order, though Vermont, 
Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey hold to the older Coun- 
cil. There are about 125 Chapters and 10,000 members in New 
York. 

Negro Freemasons. — In 1775, Prince Hall, an educated negro, 
was received at Boston into an English Army Lodge connected 
with General Gage's command, and shortly after, fourteen other 
negroes were initiated in the same Lodge. In the struggle for 
independence, Hall made an excellent and patriotic record; but 
he and his brother negro Masons continued to meet as a Lodge 
till some time between 1781 and 1783, when they applied to the 
Massachusetts Grand Lodge for a warrant. Their request was 
refused, and, in 1784, they made application to the Grand Lodge 
of England, and their application was granted. They received 
the name of African Lodge, No. 454, of Free and Accepted 
Masons. From them a Lodge was established at Philadelphia, 
and another at Providence. The separate Grand Lodges of 
England united in 1813, and African Lodge was omitted from 



4-0 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

their united roll; but there is no record of any justification of 
this act, and the negro Lodges have continued in active Masonic 
work, and their delegates had formed i\frican Grand Lodge in 
1808, and in 1827 they declared their independence of the Grand 
Lodge of England. 

They have continued to prosper, and have Grand Lodges now 
in thirty-two of the United States, besides affiliated Grand Lodges 
in the District of Columbia, the Province of Ontario, and in 
Liberia, and have about 60,000 members. 

There have been not a few Masons who have insisted that this 
negro branch had no regularity, and could not be recognized by 
orderly Lodges, but, on the other hand, some of the best authori- 
ties say that such objection on legal grounds, is unjustifiable; 
that the negro branch started in a regular way, and has done 
nothing to forfeit its standing. Back of all legal questions is, of 
course, the race question, which presents itself in different aspects 
to different persons. 

In New Jersey a white Lodge at Newark received a number 
of negroes into its membership. There was some excited discus- 
sion in consequence, but the Lodge remains on the roll of the 
Grand Lodge. In Ohio, in 1875, an effort was made in the 
Grand Lodge to recognize the negro Grand Lodge of that State. 
It was referred to a committee, which reported favorably, but 
the report was refused on a point of order. In 1898, the Grand 
Lodge of the State of Washington suggested the propriety of 
recognizing the negro Freemasons, whereupon the Grand Lodges 
of Kentucky, Arkansas, New Jersey, and South Carolina adopted 
resolutions of non-intercourse with Washington, and the Grand 
Lodges of New York, Maryland, and Rhode Island passed reso- 
lutions of disapproval. 

Negro Freemasons have also established Chapters for the 
practicing of the Scottish Rite. It is said that the first negro 
Chapter of Royal Arch Masons was organized at Philadelphia in 
1819 or 1820, by the aid of the white Royal Arch Chapter of Penn- 
sylvania, and a Grand Royal Arch Chapter was .formed in Penn- 
sylvania about 1826. In 1879, a Grand Royal Arch Chapter was 
organized in New York. It is believed that the negro Royal 
Arch Chapters number more than 5000 members. The African 
Supreme Council, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite for the Ameri- 
can Continent, was organized in Philadelphia in 1820, and is said 
to have derived its authority from the Grand Orient of France. 
This tradition seems to conflict with the tradition that the first 
negro Chapter of Royal Arch Masons was formed by members of 
the white Grand Chapter. For this and other reasons, the negro 
Scottish Rite bodies are commonly reckoned "irregular." They 
have about one thousand members. 



FREEMASONRY 4* 

THE RENASCENCE OF MASONRY * 

BY ROSCOE POUND, GRAND ORATOR 

The beginning of the 17th century was a period of 
great mental activity. The awakening of the Reforma- 
tion had brought in an era of fresh and vigorous relig- 
ious thought. Political ideas foreshadowing those of the 
18th and 19th centuries were taking form. The down- 
fall of scholasticism had set philosophy free from Aris- 
totle. Grotius was about to emancipate jurisprudence 
from theology. Conring was about to deliver law from 
Justinian. The revived interest in jurisprudence, taking 
men back to the classical jurists and their law of nature 
founded on reason — applicable to men, not as citizens, nor 
as members of civilized society, but simply and solely as 
men — was producing the great succession of publicists, 
who built up the system of international law, launched 
the ever-growing movement for humanity in war and 
ultimate peace, and stimulated that interest in legal and 
political philosophy, of which the democratic ideas of our 
own time, and the humanizing and rationalizing of law 
. in the 19th century, were to be the fruit. The renascence 
of Masonry, complete in the next century, had its roots 
in this period. " There was always," says Sir Henry 
Maine, " a close association between natural law and 
humanity. ,, In such a time, with the very air full of 
ideas of human brotherhood and of the rational claims of 
humanity, the notion of an organization of all men, for 
the general welfare of mankind, was to be looked for. It 
may be seen, indeed, in the opening years of the century ; 

* An oration delivered before the Grand Lodge of Nebraska, 
at Omaha. Neb., June, 1903. 



42 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

and we need not doubt that the writings of Andrea, and 
the well-known Rosicrucian controversy, were symptoms 
rather than a cause. But the idea was slow in attaining 
its maturity. In the 17th century, it struggled beneath a 
load of alchemy and mysticism, bequeathed to it by an 
obsolete era of ignorance and superstition. In the 18th 
century, it was retarded by the absorbing interest in politi- 
cal philosophy. Hence it was not till the first decade of 
the 19th century that the possibilities of this phase of the 
new thought were perceived entirely. Then, for the first 
time, the idea of a general organization of mankind was 
treated in scientific method, referred to a definite end, 
and made part of a philosophical system of human activi- 
ties. And it has seemed that no better theme could be 
chosen, upon an occasion such as this, than the life and 
work of that learned and eminent man and Mason, in his 
time at once the first of Masonic philosophers and the 
foremost of philosophers of law, who rendered this ser- 
vice to humanity and to the craft. 

Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, one of the founders 
of a new Masonic literature, and the founder of a school 
of legal thought, was born at Eisenberg, not far from 
Leipzig, in 1781. He was educated at Jena, where he 
taught for some time, till, in 1805, he removed to Dres- 
den. In this same year he became a Mason ; and at once, 
with characteristic energy and enthusiasm, he entered 
upon a critical and philosophical study of the institution, 
reading every Masonic work accessible. As a result of 
his studies he delivered twelve lectures before his Lodge 
in Dresden, which were published in 1809, under the 
title : " Hohere Vergeisterung der echtuberlieferter 
Grundsymbole der Freimaurerei" or " Higher Spiritual- 
ization of the True Symbols of Masonry." A year later 
he published the first volume of his great work, " Die drei 



FREEMASONRY 43 

iiltesten Kunsturkunden der Freimaurerbruderschaft," 
or " The Three Oldest Professional Records of the Ma- 
sonic Fraternity/' This book, in the words of Dr. Mackey, 
" one of the most learned that ever issued from the Ma- 
sonic press," unhappily fell upon evil days. The limits 
of permissible public discussion of Masonic symbols were 
then uncertain, and the liberty of the individual Mason 
to interpret them for himself, since expounded so elo- 
quently by Albert Pike, was not wholly conceded by the 
German Masons of that day. In consequence, he met the 
fate which has befallen so many of the great scholars of 
the craft. His name, even more than those of Preston 
and Dalcho and Crucefix and Oliver, warns us that honest 
ignorance, zealous bigotry, and well-meaning intolerance 
are to be found even among sincere and fraternal seekers 
for the light. The very rumor of Krause's book pro- 
duced great agitation. Extraordinary efforts were made 
to prevent its publication, and, when these failed, the mis- 
taken zeal of his contemporaries was exerted toward 
expelling him from the Order. Not only was he excom- 
municated by his Lodge, but the persecution to which his 
Masonic publications gave rise clung to him all his life, 
and prevented him from receiving public or formal recog- 
nition of the position he occupied among the thinkers of 
his day. It has been said, indeed, that he was too far in 
advance of the time to be understood fully beyond a small 
circle of friends and disciples. Yet there seems no doubt 
that the bitterness engendered by the Masonic contro- 
versies over his book was chiefly instrumental in prevent- 
ing him from attaining a professorship. Happily, he was 
not a man to yield to persecution or misfortune. Like the 
poet, he might have said : "... I seek not good fortune. 
I myself am good fortune." 



44 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Undaunted by miscomprehension of his teachings, un- 
embittered by the seeming success of his enemies, he 
labored steadily, as a lecturer at the University of Got- 
tingen, in the development and dissemination of the sys- 
tem of legal and political philosophy from which his fame 
is derived. Roder has recorded the deep impression 
which his lectures left upon the hearers, and the common 
opinion which placed him far above the respectable medi- 
ocrities who held professorship in the institution where 
he was a simple docent. As we read the accounts of his 
work as a lecturer, and turn over the earnest, devout and 
tolerant pages of his books, full of faith in the perfecti- 
bility of man, and of zeal for discovering and furthering 
the conditions of human progress, we must needs feel that 
here was one prepared in his heart and made by nature, 
from whom no judgment of a Lodge could permanently 
divide us. 

Krause did not leave us a complete or systematic ex- 
position of his general philosophical system. Nor can it 
be said that he achieved much of moment in the field of 
philosophy at large. It is rather in the special fields of 
the philosophy of Masonry, to which he devoted the en- 
thusiasm of youth, and the philosophy of law, to which 
he turned his maturer energies, that he will be remem- 
bered. In the latter field, indeed, he is still a potent force. 
Two able and zealous disciples, Ahrens and Roder, 
labored for more than a generation in expounding and 
spreading his doctrines. The great work of Ahrens, pub- 
lished five years after his master's death, has gone through 
twenty-four editions in seven languages. Thus Krause 
became recognized as the founder of a school of legal and 
political philosophers, and his followers, not merely by 
writings, but by meetings and congresses, developed and 
disseminated his ideas. Until the rise of the military; 



FREEMASONRY 45 

spirit in Germany, and the shifting of the growing-point 
of German law to legislation, produced a new order of 
ideas, the influence of his doctrines was almost dom- 
inant. Outside of Germany, especially in lands where the 
philosophy of law is yet a virgin field, they have still a 
useful and fruitful future before them, and he has been 
pronounced the " leader of the latest and largest thought'' 
in the sphere of legal philosophy. His great Masonic 
work is disfigured by the uncritical veracity, character- 
istic of Masonic writers until a very recent period, which 
led him to give unhesitating credence to tradition, and 
to accept, as genuine, documents of doubtful authenticity, 
or even downright fabrications. Hence his historical and 
philosophical investigations, in which he minutely ex- 
amines the so-calle<i Leland MS., the Entered Apprentice 
lecture, and the so-called York Constitutions, as well as 
his dissertation on the form of government and adminis- 
tration in the Masonic order, must be read with caution, 
and with many allowances for over-credulity. But in spite 
of these blemishes — and they unhappily disfigure too 
large a portion of the historical and critical literature of 
the craft, — his Masonic writings are invaluable. 

In a time and among a people in which the modern 
indifference to philosophy is exceptionally strong, and 
threatens to deprive jurisprudence and politics of all basis, 
other than popular caprice, a teaching which sets them 
on a surer and more enduring ground, which seeks to 
direct them to a definite place, and to give them definite 
work in a general scheme of human progress, cannot fail 
to be tonic. For the Mason, however, Krause's system 
of legal philosophy has a further and higher value. It 
is not merely that his works on the philosophy of law, 
written, for the most part, after his period of Masonic 
research and Masonic authorship was at .an end, afford 



46 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

us, at many points, memorable examples of the practical 
possibilities of Masonic studies. Nor is it merely that he 
enforces so strenuously the social, political, and legal 
applications of the principles of our lectures. His great 
achievement, his chiefest title to our enduring gratitude, 
is the organic theory of law and the state, in which he de- 
velops the 17th century notion of a general organization 
of mankind into a practicable doctrine, seeks to unite the 
state with all other groups and organizations — high or 
low, whatever their immediate scope or purpose — in a 
harmonious system of men's activities, and points out the 
station and the objective of our world-wide brotherhood 
in the line-of-battle of human progress. Let me indicate 
to you, even though imperfectly, some of the leading 
points of his legal and Masonic philosophy, and the rela- 
tion of the one to the other. 

Law is but " the skeleton of social order, clothed upon 
by the flesh and blood of morality." Among primitive 
peoples, it is no more than a device to keep the peace, and 
to regulate, so far as may be, the archaic remedy of pri- 
vate war. In time, it is taken over by the state, and is 
able to put down violence, where originally it could go 
no further than to limit it. This done, it may aspire to 
a better end, and seek not only to preserve order, but to 
do justice. Thus far it has come at present. But beyond 
all this, says Krause, there is a higher and nobler goal : 
" The perfection of man and of society." The law, 
singly, is by no means adequate to this task. Rightly 
understood, it is one of many agencies, which are to 
operate harmoniously, each in its own sphere, toward 
that great end. The state organizes and wields but one 
of these agencies. Morals, religion, science, the arts, 
industry, and commerce — all these, in his view, are co- 
workers, and must be organized also. But the state, or the 



FREEMASONRY 47 

political organization, being charged with the duty of 
maintaining the development of justice, has the special 
function of assuring to the other forms of organized hu- 
man activity the means of perfecting themselves. . It must 
" mediate between the individual and the social destiny." 
Thus it is but an organ in the whole social organism. He 
looked upon human society as an organic whole, made up 
of many diverse institutions, each related to an important 
phase of human life, and all destined, at an epoch of 
maturity, to compose a superior unity. Relatively, they 
are independent. In a wider view, and looked at with an 
eye to the ultimate result, they are parts of a single mech- 
anism. All operate in one direction and to one end — the 
achievement of the destiny of humanity, which is perfec- 
tion. Nor is this idle speculation. Krause seeks to ani- 
mate these several phases of human activity, these varied 
institutions evolved as organs of the social body, with a 
new spirit. He impresses upon us that we are not on the 
decline, but are rather in a period of youth. Humanity, 
he insists, is but beginning to acquire the consciousness 
of its social aim. Knowing its aim, conscious of the high 
perfection that awaits it, he calls upon mankind, by har- 
monious development of its institutions, to reach the ideal 
gradually, through evolution of the real. 

The scientists tell us that nature exhibits a ceaseless 
and relentless strife — a struggle for existence, in which all 
individuals, races, and species are inevitably involved. 
.The very weeds by the roadside are not only at war with 
one another for room to grow, but must contend for their 
existence against the ravages of insects, the voracity of 
grazing animals, and. the implements of. men. Thus, the 
staple of life, under purely natural conditions/is conflict. 
If we return to the artificial conditions of a garden, the 
contrast is extreme. Exotics, which could not maintain 



48 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

themselves a moment, in an alien soil and an unwonted 
climate, against the competition of hardy native weeds, 
thrive luxuriantly. Planted carefully, so as not to inter- 
fere with each other, carefully tended, so as to eliminate 
the competition of native vegetation, supplied with the 
best of soil, watered whenever the natural supply is de- 
ficient, the individual plants, freed from the natural neces- 
sity of caring for themselves in the struggle for existence, 
turn their whole energies to more perfect development, 
and produce forms and varieties of which their rude, un- 
cultivated originals scarcely convey a hint. All struggle 
for existence is not eliminated, indeed, in the garden. 
But the burden of it is shifted. Instead of each plant 
struggling with every other for a precarious existence, 
the gardener contends with nature for the existence of 
his garden. He covers his plants to protect them from 
frosts, he waters them to mitigate drouth, he sprays them 
to prevent injury by insects, and he hoes to keep down the 
competition of weeds. Instead of leaving each plant to 
propagate itself as best it may, he gathers and selects the 
seed, prepares the ground, and sows so as to insure the 
best results. The whole proceeding is at variance with 
nature, and it is maintained only by continual strife with 
nature, and at the price of vigilance and diligence. If 
these are relaxed, insects, drouth, and weeds soon gain the 
day, and the artificial order of the garden is at an end. 

Society and civilization are, in like manner, an artificial 
order, maintained at the price of vigilance and diligence 
in opposition to natural forces. As in the garden, so in 
society, the characteristic feature is elimination of the 
struggle for existence, by removal or amelioration of the 
conditions which give rise to it. On the other hand, in 
savage or primitive society, as in the natural plant-rSddety 
of the wayside, the characteristic feature is the intense 



FREEMASONRY 49 

and unending competition of the struggle for existence. 
In the wayside weed-patch, nature exerts herself to ad- 
just the forms of life to the conditions of existence. In 
the garden, the gardener strives to adjust the conditions 
of existence to the forms of life he intends to cultivate. 
Similarly, among savage and uncivilized races, men 
adjust themselves as they may to a harsh environment. 
With the advent and development of society and civiliza- 
tion, men create an artificial environment, adjusted to 
their needs and furthering their continued progress. 
Thus, the social and moral orders are, in a sense, arti- 
ficial; they have been set up in opposition to the natural 
order, and they are maintained and maintainable only 
by strife with nature, and the repression of natural in- 
stincts and primitive desires. It has been said that nature 
is morally indififerent. Morality is a conception which 
belongs to the social, not to the natural existence. The 
course of conduct which the member of civilized society 
pursues would be fatal to the savage ; and the course 
followed by the savage would be fatal to society. The 
savage, like any wild animal, fights out the struggle for 
existence, relentlessly. The civilized man joins his best 
energies to those of his fellows *in the endeavor to limit 
and terminate that struggle. 

The social order, then, is, as it were, an artificial order, 
set up and maintained by the co-operation of numbers 
of individuals through successive generations. Just as 
the garden demands vigilance and diligence on the part 
of the gardener, to prevent the encroachment and re- 
establishment of the natural order, so the social order 
requires continual struggle with natural surroundings, 
as well as with other societies, and with individuals, 
wherewith its interests or necessities come in conflict. 
Consequently, in addition to the instincts of self and 



50 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

species preservation, there is required an instinct or intu- 
ition of preserving and maintaining the social order. 
Whether we regard this as acquired in an orderly 
process of evolution, or as implanted in man at creation, 
it stands as the basis of right and justice, bringing about, 
as a moral habit, " that tendency of the will and mode of 
conduct which refrains from disturbing the lives and 
interests of others, and, as far as possible, hinders such 
interference on the part of others/' The mere knowledge 
by individuals, however, that the welfare and even the 
continuance of society require each to limit his activities 
somewhat with reference to the activities of others, does 
not suffice to keep them within the bounds required by 
right and justice. The more primitive and powerful 
selfish instincts tend to prevail in action. Hence private 
war was an ordinary process of archaic society. The 
competing activities of individuals could not be brought 
into harmony, and were left to adjust themselves. But 
peace, order, and security are essential to civilization. 
Every individual must be relieved from the necessity of 
guarding his interests against encroachment, and set free 
to pursue some special end with his whole energies. As 
civilization advances, this is done by substituting the 
force of society for that of the individual, and thus 
putting an end to private war. Historically, law grew up 
to meet this demand. 

The maintenance of society and the promotion of its 
welfare, however, as has been seen, depend upon much 
besides law. Even in its original and more humble role 
of preserving the peace, the law was by no means the first 
in importance. The germs of legal institutions are to be 
seen in ancient religions, and religion and morals held 
men in check while law was yet in embryo. Beginning as 
one, religion, morals, and law have slowly differentiated 



FREEMASONRY 5* 

into the three regulating and controlling agencies by 
which right and justice are upheld, and society is made 
possible. In many respects their aim is common ; in many 
respects they cover the same field; among some peoples 
they are still confused in whole or in part. But to-day, 
among enlightened peoples, they stand as three great 
systems, with their own aims, their own fields, their own 
organizations, and their own methods ; each keeping 
down the atavistic tendencies toward wrong-doing and 
private war, and each bearing its share in the support of 
the artificial social order, by maintaining right and justice. 
Religion governs men, so far as it is a regulating agency, 
by supernatural sanctions ; morality by the sanction of 
public opinion; law by the sanction of the force of 
organized society. Each, therefore, to be able to employ 
its sanctions systematically and effectively in maintain- 
ing society, must be directed or wielded by an organiza- 
tion. Accordingly, we find the Church giving regulative 
and coercive force to religion, and the state taking over 
and putting itself behind the law. But what is behind 
the third of these great agencies? What and where is 
the organization that gives system and effectiveness to 
the regulative force of morality? 

Here, Krause tells us, is the post of the Masonic order. 
World-wide ; respecting every honest creed, but requiring 
adherence to none ; teaching obedience to states, but con- 
fining itself to no one of them ; it looks to religion on 
the one side and to law upon the other, and, standing 
on the solid middle ground of the universal moral senti- 
ments of mankind, puts behind them the force of tradi- 
tion and precept, and organizes the mighty sanction of 
human disapproval. Thus, he conceives that Masonry 
is working hand-in-hand with Church and State, in organ- 
izing the conditions of social progress; and that all 



52 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

societies and organizations, whether local or cosmopolitan, 
which seek to unify men's energies in any sphere — 
whether science, or art, or labor, or commerce — have 
their part also, since each and all, held up by the three 
pillars of the social order — Religion, Law, and Morals ; 
Wisdom, Strength, and Beauty — are making for human 
perfection. But, in the attainment of human perfection, 
we must go beyond the strict limits of the social order. 
Morality, as we have seen, is an institution of social man. 
Nevertheless it has possibilities of its own, surpassing 
the essential requirements of a society. There is a moral 
order, above and developed out of the social order, as 
the social order is above the natural. The natural order 
is maintained by the instincts of self and species preserva- 
tion. These instincts, unrestrained, take no account of 
other existences, and make struggle for existence the 
rule. In the social order, men have learned to adjust 
act to end in maintaining their own lives without hinder- 
ing others from doing the like. In the moral order men 
have learned not merely to live without hindering the 
lives of others, but to live so as to aid others in attain- 
ing a more complete and perfect life. When the life of 
every individual is full and complete, not merely without 
hindering other lives from like completeness, but while 
helping them to attain it, perfection will have been 
reached. Then will the individual, " In hand and foot 
and soul four-square, fashioned without fault," fit closely 
into the moral order, as the perfect ashlar. Instinct 
maintains the natural order. Law must stand chiefly 
behind the social order. Masonry will find its sphere, 
for the most part, in maintaining and developing the 
moral order. So that, while it reminds us of our natural 
duties to ourselves, and of the duties we owe our country, 
as the embodiment of the social order, it insists, above 



FREEMASONRY 53 

and beyond them all, upon our duties to our neighbor and 
to God, through which alone the perfection of the moral 
order may be attained. 

Krause does not believe, however, that law and the 
state should limit their scope and purpose to keeping up 
the social order. They maintain right and justice in 
order to uphold society. But they uphold society in 
order to liberate men's energies so that they may make 
for the moral order. Hence the ultimate aim is human 
perfection. If by any act intended to maintain the 
social order they retard the moral order, they are going 
counter to their ends. Law and morals are distinct ; but 
their aim is one, and the distinction is in the fields in 
which they may act effectively, and in the means of 
action, rather than in the ideas themselves. The law- 
giver must never forget the ultimate purpose, and must 
seek to advance rather than to hinder the organization 
and harmonious development of all human activities. 
" Law," he tells us, " is the sum of the external condi- 
tions of life measured by reason." So far as perfection 
may be reached by limitation of the external acts of 
men, whereby each may live a complete life, unhindered 
by his fellows, the law is effective. More than this, the 
external conditions of the life measured by reason are, 
indirectly, conditions of the fuller and completer life of 
the moral order; for men must be free to exercise their 
best energies without hindrance before they can employ 
them to much purpose in aiding others to a larger life. 
Here, however, law exhausts its possibilities. It upholds 
the social order whereon the moral order rests. The 
development and maintenance of the moral order depend 
on internal conditions. And these are without the domain 
of law. Nevertheless, as law prepares the way for the 
moral order, morals make more easy the task of law. 



54 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

The more thoroughly each individual, of his own motion, 
measures his life by reason, the more completely does law 
cease to be merely regulative and restraining, and attains 
its higher role of an organized human freedom. Here 
is one of the prime functions of the symbols of the craft. 
As one reflects upon these symbols, the idea of life meas- 
ured by reason is everywhere borne in upon him. The 
twenty-four-inch gauge, the plumb, the level, square and 
compass, and the trestle-board are eloquent of measure- 
ment and restraint. 

There is nothing measured in the life of the savage. 
He may kill sufficient for his needs, or, from mere caprice 
or wanton love of slaughter, may kill beyond his needs 
at the risk of future want. His acts have little or no 
relation to one another. He does not sow at one season 
that he may reap at another, much less does he plant or 
build in one generation that another generation may be 
nourished or sheltered. The exigencies or the desires 
of the moment control his actions. On the other hand, 
the acts of civilized man are connected, related to one 
another, and, to a great extent, parts of a harmonious 
and intelligent scheme of activity. Even more is this 
true of conduct which is called moral. Its prime char- 
acteristic is certainty. We know to-day what it will be 
to-morrow. The unprincipled may or may not keep 
promises, may or may not pay debts, may or may not 
be constant in political or family relations. The man 
whose conduct is moral we call trustworthy. We repose 
entire confidence in his steadfast adherence to a regular 
and orderly course of life. Hence we speak of rectitude 
of conduct, under the figure of adjustment to a straight 
line ; and our whole nomenclature of ethics is based upon 
such figures of speech. Excess, which is indefinite and 
unmeasured, is immoral; moderation, which implies 



FREEMASONRY 55 

adherence to a definite and ascertainable medium, we 
feel to be moral. The social man, as distinguished from 
the savage, and even more the moral man as distin- 
guished from him who merely takes care not to infringe 
the law, measures and lays out his life ; and the symbols 
of the craft serve as continual monitors to the weak or 
thoughtless of what must distinguish them from the 
savage and the unprincipled. 

The allegory of the house not made with hands, into 
which we are to be fitted as living stones, suggests reflec- 
tions still more inspiring. Here we see symbolized the 
organic conception of society and of human activities, 
upon which Krause insists so strongly. Social and indi- 
vidual progress, he says, are inseparable. Nothing is 
to be kept back or hindered in the march toward 
human perfection. The social order conserves the end 
of self and race maintenance more perfectly than the 
natural order, which aims at nothing higher; and the 
moral order accomplishes the end of maintaining society 
more fully than a system that attempts no more. The 
complete life is a complete life of the units, as well as 
of the whok, and the progress of humanity is a har- 
monizing of the interests of each with each other and 
with all. Nature is wasteful. Myriads of seeds are 
produced that a few plants may struggle to maturity. 
Multitudes of lives are lost in the struggle for existence, 
that a few may survive. As men advance in social and 
moral development, this sacrifice of individuals becomes 
continually less. The most perfect state, in consequence, 
is that in which the welfare of each citizen and that of 
all citizens have become identical, where the interests of 
state and subject are one, where the feelings of each 
accord with those of all. In this era of universal organ- 
ization, when Krause's chapters seem almost prophetic, 



56 'THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

there is much to console us in his belief that the organic 
must prove harmonious, and that organizations which 
now conflict will in the end work consciously and 
unerringly, as they now work unconsciously and imper- 
fectly, toward a common end. If, as his illustrious pupil 
tells us, " human society is but a solid bundle of organic 
institutions, a federation of particular organizations, 
through which the fundamental aims of humanity are 
realized," we may confidently hope for unity where now 
is discord. And we may hope for much, in this work 
of unification, from that world-wide brotherhood which 
has for one of its missions to organize morals and to 
bring them home forcibly and as realities to every man. 

Such, in brief and meager outline, is the relation of 
Masonry to the philosophy of law, as conceived by one 
who has left his mark on the history of each. Think 
what we may of some of his doctrines, differ from him 
as we may at other points, hold, as we may, that our 
order has other ends, we must needs be stirred by the 
noble aim he has set before us ; we must needs be ani- 
mated by a higher spirit and more strenuous purpose, as 
one of the chiefest of the organic societies composing the 
" solid bundle " that makes for human perfection. 

Report of The Shibboleth. 



FREEMASONRY 57 

MASONRY AND THE STATE 
An Installation Address * 

by jesse s. jones. 

The association of Masonry and the state began with 
the earliest work of the order, and has continued in an 
unbroken line down to the present time. We all know 
that in King Solomon's time, peace and tranquillity 
prevailed throughout all the land while the Temple 
was building, and we certainly must ascribe much of 
this beneficent spirit to the teachings of Ancient Craft 
Masonry. 

Masonry has always exerted a powerful influence for 
good in the affairs of state, and has bettered the condi- 
tion of the people even in those lands where Christianity 
did not exist. Its foundations are sure, and much of its 
stability arises from the spirit of wisdom found in these 
words, " We will sell to no man, we will deny to no man, 
right and justice." 

George Bancroft, the eminent American historian, in 
speaking on an entirely different subject, said: "It is 
alone by infusing great principles into the common mind 
that great revolutions are brought about. They have 
never been, they can never be effected by superior indi- 
vidual excellence." These words so accurately describe 
the work and scope of Masonry as to make it seem that 
no other applications were intended or denied. Disguise 
it as we may, the greatest work performed and the 
greatest good done by Masonry has been the inculcation 

* Delivered at the installation of the officers of C Lodge, 

No. 91, Tacoma, Wash. 



58 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

into the minds of the people of a love of Liberty, Frater- 
nity, and Equality. This has resulted in bringing into 
existence a government of the people entrenched behind 
the bulwarks of the eternal rights God gave from the 
beginning. Wars between nations have failed to sever 
the fraternal connection existing between Masonic bodies. 
I can only touch upon this thought by a brief reference 
to the American Revolution, when the obligations taken 
on either side the broad Atlantic held good with a three- 
fold tie through all the tumults of war. Even in our 
Civil War, when brother was arrayed against brother, 
and father and son served under different flags, there 
was no termination of the same kindly relations. Ever 
since that fearful struggle there have been two churches 
of the same creed and the same God, a church of the 
North and a church of the South, divided on the ques- 
tion of slavery. Masonry stood the test, knowing no 
North, no South, no East, no West; rising sublimely 
above it with a grandeur all her own. So may it 
ever be ! The cradle of our liberty was rocked by a 
Washington, a Franklin, a Hancock, and a Warren, all of 
whom were Masons imbued and inspired with the same 
lofty desire to make operative the broad principles of 
Masonry in the life of the state. There has been no 
great movement at home or abroad that has not had 
behind it the loyal support of the Masonic fraternity, 
and the wisdom that comes from Masonic teachings. 
The state and Masonry are inseparably linked together 
by the names of the great men who have directed the 
affairs of state, and made glorious the annals of our 
nation's history. Blood has flowed like water from Ma- 
sons who have freely given their lives to preserve unsul- 
lied the honor and glory of our nation. " In the past, 
Masonry has been unaffected by the tempests of wars, the 



FREEMASONRY 59 

storms of persecutions, or the denunciations of fanatics." 
It is a noble and most glorious thing to be a Mason, and 
to know that Masonry and the state ^re " one and indi- 
visible." " Be just and fear not, let all the ends thou 
aim'st at be thy country's, thy God's, and truth's." 
With that sublime thought I will close, with a most 
hearty appreciation of your kind attention, and with keen 
regrets for my shortcomings. 



THE FIRST GRAND MASTER OF VIRGINIA 
A FRIEND OF WASHINGTON 

BY GILBERT PATTEN BROWN. 

The Old World may boast of her kings and popes, 
at whose commands the blood of innocent people has 
been spilled. In the New World the patriot and the 
inventor have taken the place of such useless members 
of society, and amid the glories of this nation Free- 
masonry has flourished with no equal in any other part 
of the world. 

The old and renowned colony of Virginia has produced 
some of the greatest men in modern civilization: such 
names as Washington, Lee, Randolph, Marshall, Jeffer- 
son, Madison — all figuring prominently during Colonial 
and Revolutionary times. Another of her distinguished 
patriots is the subject of this sketch, in the person 
of Hon. John Blair, who was born in beauteous Williams- 
burg, in the year 1732. He received his first school 
training in the district school of his native town, gradu- 
ating from William and Mary College. He repaired 
to London, England, where he pursued his legal studies 



60 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

at the Temple, and was soon engaged in full practice at 
the bar of the General Court. 

It is quite probable that he was there made a Free- 
mason in the " Lodge of St. James/' as on his arrival 
home we find him to be a Master Mason. It was a 
custom in those day to confer the degrees upon eminent 
Americans. 

After returning to Virginia he engaged in the practice 
of his profession, and in a short time was elected to the 
House of Burgesses, where, by his keen wit, he soon 
showed himself to be a well-balanced Anglo-Saxon. In 
1767 he opposed the resolution of Patrick Henry, but 
in 1769, when that noted house was dissolved, Blair 
was one of the most patriotic men in that band, con- 
sisting of Washington, Nicholas Bland, and others of 
their stamp, who held a meeting in the Raleigh Tavern 
and drafted the Non-importation Agreement. In 1770 
the House of Burgesses was again dissolved, and mem- 
bers for the second time assembled at the Raleigh to 
revise and amend the articles of agreement. They at 
once associated themselves with the leading merchants 
of the " Old Dominion Colony/' and John Blair was one 
of the first to record his name on that roll of honor. 
Next we see him a delegate from William and Mary 
College, and he was the last of that long line of eminent 
men who represented this fountain of learning in the 
public councils of that hallowed commonwealth. He was 
also a member of the committee which reported the 
" Declaration of Rights and the Constitution/' (About 
this time he was received into the Masonic fraternity 
in Virginia.) He was elected by the convention a mem- 
ber of the Council, and when the judicial department 
was established in 1777 he was elected a judge of the 
General Court, of which he became Chief Justice, and, 



FREEMASONRY 61 

on death of Robert Carter Nichols, in 1780, he was 
elected a judge of the High Court of Chancery, and by 
virtue of station he became a Justice* of the High Court 
of Appeals. 

On May 6, A. D. 1777, several Masonic lodges in 
Virginia sent representatives to Williamsburg, for the 
purpose of organizing a Grand Lodge in that colony. 
One most popular among the craft at said convention 
was none other than John Blair, then a Past Master of 
Williamsburg Lodge, No. 6. He was there elected 
"Most Worshipful Grand Master of Ancient York 
Masons in America." 

Soon we find this title changed to that of " Grand 
Master of Virginia," which office he held through the 
troublesome days of the Revolution. His successor was 
James Mercer, of Williamsburg Lodge, and a gallant 
soldier of the Revolutionary War. 

The General Assembly appointed him a delegate to 
the Philadelphia convention to revise the Articles of Con- 
federation, in which, with James Madison and Edmund 
Randolph, he supported the so-called " Virginia Plan," 
in opposition to the scheme of New Jersey, which sus- 
tained the separate sovereignty of the States ; and with 
Washington and Madison alone, of all the delegates 
from Virginia, voted for the adoption of the Consti- 
tution. (Here three Virginia Masons voted as one.) 
When the Federal Constitution was submitted for the 
ratification of Virginia he voted in its favor. On the 
organization of the Federal Judiciary he was appointed 
by Washington, in 1789, a Judge of the Supreme Court, 
which office he filled with credit to himself and honor 
to his State. 

In stature Mr. Blair was about five feet ten inches 
high, full forehead, blue eyes, and a well-formed nose. 



62 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

He was a gentleman of polished manners and of high 
mind. He died at old Williamsburg, August 31, 1800. 
May the name of John Blair stand on history's page 
as an example to future statesmen of the North Ameri- 
can Republic. He was ever proud to be called a friend 
of Washington. May the day again come when the 
leading lights of Freemasonry shall all be of the stamp 
of John Blair and his fraternal associates. Then, and 
not until then, will shame be a stranger to its historic 
and honored name. 



REQUIREMENTS OF MASONRY 

In all ages from time immemorial, in all branches of 
•Masonry, every applicant for membership was required 
to "be a good and true man, free-born, and of mature 
and discreet age." These requirements are as binding 
now as when first promulgated. That they are wise, and 
each one of the utmost importance, is plainly visible from 
the very nature of the organization. 

The physical qualifications are of importance, and 
differ in different jurisdictions, some being very rigid and 
exacting, growing out of the old requirements as to 
apprentices. In this age of speculative Masonry, when 
spiritual and moral temples are to be erected, and not 
temples of stone or wood, " the tongue of good report " is 
of vastly more importance than the qualification of physi- 
cal perfection. And besides, men differ so greatly as to 
what constitutes a perfect man that it is difficult to define 
what disqualifies a candidate for initiation. A man may 
have all his limbs and the visible members of his body 
perfect, yet may be suffering from some internal, incur- 



FREEMASONRY 63 

able disorder, that most certainly makes his body unsound. 
Under a rigid enforcement of physical qualifications, no 
man with greatly impaired vision or hearing, suffering 
from consumption or other life-shortening and body- 
weakening ailment, could be made a Mason. 

But " the internal, not the external, qualifications are 
what Masonry regard." The tongue of good report, 
Mackey says, " is equivalent, in Masonic technical lan- 
guage, to being of good character or reputation. It is 
required that the candidate for initiation should be one of 
whom no tongue speaks evil." As the Fraternity teaches 
only the purest morality, the practice of the strictest 
virtue, it is self-evident that only men of purity of char- 
acter should be admitted. The true inward fitness of the 
heart, where a man is first prepared to be a Mason, is 
known only to the man himself. Others can only judge 
from his actions and his life in the community. " Out of 
the fullness of the heart the mouth speaketh," and as the 
actions are indicative of the motives of the heart, and its 
purity or impurity, so what a man does shows his thoughts 
and aspirations. 

As a rule, a man's life, his friends and associates, his 
business, and his habits, are a true index to his internal 
qualifications, and should be carefully studied and prop- 
erly analyzed before he is recommended to any Lodge. 
If this course was followed in every case, by every mem- 
ber, the standard of morality and virtue in the Fraternity 
would be very much higher. Mistakes may be made, and 
a wolf in sheep's clothing may be admitted, but to confer 
the degrees of Masonry upon men whose reputation is 
notoriously bad, or keep them in the Fraternity after their 
true character is revealed, is reprehensible in the highest 
degree. We owe it to Masonry, to ourselves as men, and 
to the community in which we live, to obey the charges 



64 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

made to Freemasons nearly two centuries ago, and thus 
elevate, rather than lower, the standard of virtue in the 
institution. 

It is greatly to the honor of the members of the Fra- 
ternity that among so large a number of men as belong 
to the different Lodges the quality of the membership is 
so good. Here and there is found a black sheep, one 
who would have been barred admission had " the tongue 
of good report " been applied to him. If this measure 
had been applied to every man, and is applied to every 
man in the future, no sad and hurtful exposure of evil 
character will occur. 

The Masonic Standard, New York. 



AN ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS 
A Masonic Retrospect* 

BY CHARLES A. TONSOR. 

Seventy-five years of Knights Templarism in Brook- 
lyn have passed into history, and we, the mother of the 
commanderies in this borough, enter upon the last quar- 
ter to the century-mark of our existence. It is there- 
fore eminently fitting that we should celebrate an event 
which marks so important an epoch in our history. 
Twenty-five years hence, those who come after us will 
gather and pay tribute to many who shall then sleep in 
the far beyond, as to-night we pay tribute to those Sir 
Knights through whose zeal and fidelity in holding aloft 
the banner of Templarism we are privileged to celebrate 

* At the seventy-fifth anniversary of Clinton Commandery, 
Knights Templars, Brooklyn, N, Y, 



FREEMASONRY 65 

our seventy-fifth anniversary. As Eminent Commander 
I am doubly proud that this event should be celebrated 
during my administration, hailing from a Lodge which, 
through its age, has the distinction of having furnished 
the greatest number of Commanders for old Clinton, and 
on whose roster of Past Masters are the names of those 
two sterling Sir Knights, George L. Thatcher and John 
Harron, to whom more than anyone else we are indebted 
for the preservation of our warrant. 

Seventy-five years does not seem a very great length 
of time, yet if we could look back and picture our beau- 
tiful city of to-day at the time this Commandery came 
into existence, we would find a small town, the limit of 
whose precinct was a little above the site of the present 
Hall of Records, where at that time the old Military Gar- 
dens were located, at which place this Commandery found 
birth. This w r as pretty far uptown, for later the asylum 
was moved to 3 Front Street, corner Fulton, but a short 
distance from the present Fulton Ferry. There were but 
two Masonic lodges and one Royal Arch Chapter in the 
town. Nevertheless, the Sir Knights were just as sin- 
cere in their work for the advancement of the principles 
of our beloved institution as we are to-day. They no 
doubt felt equally proud of their asylum, lit by candle- 
light, as we are to-day, when we enter our beautiful cathe- 
dral illuminated by its maze of colored electric lights. 

The mere fact of the continuous existence of this 
Commandery throughout the time when Masonry was 
under a ban, when many faint-hearted and even resolute 
brethren forsook the craft, in those days when the very 
silence of its history was eloquent, and the mere mention 
of conclaves being held was evidence of fortitude On the 
part of the Sir Knights, showed the sterling qualities of 
those who fostered and so wisely laid the foundation of 



66 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

what is to-day the second, if not the largest, Commandery 
in this Empire State. 

As a Commandery of Knights Templars we have 
maintained our proud position in this community by a 
strict adherence to the principles we teach in our ritual, 
and which it is our duty to instill into the minds of those 
who seek admission into our order. Let us see to it, Sir 
Knights of Clinton, that those who may gather to cele- 
brate the centennial may look back to us with the same 
degree of pride as we do to those who have preceded us, 
and through whose efforts and labors we owe our exist- 
ence as a Commandery to-day, and may He under whose 
banner we are enlisted as Christian Knights watch over 
and prosper us. 



FIFTY YEARS OF WASHINGTON MASONRY 

Semi-centennial Address * 

by g. s. thomas milburne reed. 

... I am commanded to speak of Olympia Lodge 
No. I and the early days of the Grand Lodge. There 
is matter here for a lengthy address. My remarks will 
be few, and I fear greatly disappointing; for whatever 
I may mention, I must hastily pass much of a cognate 
character of equal interest. All things sublunary had 
a beginning. Olympia Lodge, whose semi-centennial we 
celebrate to-day, had a mother; that mother had its 
mother. The first lodge of Masons established on the 

*From an address delivered before the Grand Lodge at. 
Olympia, Wash., Xtec. i, 1902. ' ' ' ' ' • • 



FREEMASONRY 67 

Pacific coast and west of the Rocky Mountains, or of 
the west boundary of. the State of Minnesota, was organ- 
ized at Oregon City, Oregon Territory, namely, Mult- 
nomah Lodge, No. 4, chartered by the Grand Lodge of 
Missouri, October 19, 1846, and opened for work Sep- 
tember 11, 1848. Thus you will observe that during 
the early days of the Nation's sovereign occupancy of 
this great western border of the American continent, it 
took a long time to transmit even this light-weighted, 
though important Masonic document — the first charter — 
from the Middle West to the Pacific coast. I forbear 
to speak in particular of the life trials, the hardships and 
thrilling experiences of those Masonic pioneers having 
that charter in charge ; the various changes from hand to 
hand, or from one ox-team to another, of its custodians 
enroute; neither can I recount the many pleasing inci- 
dents connected with the care of that instrument in its 
" journey ings across the plains"; nor of those relating 
to the establishing of that first lodge; the organization 
of other new lodges, which joined in the formation of 
the Grand Lodge of California and Grand Lodge of 
Oregon. 

The Oregon Grand Lodge was organized September 
13, 1851. This is a Mother Grand Lodge. The first 
lodge established under its authority — by dispensation, 
October 4, 185 1 — was opened for work as Salem Lodge, 
and subsequently chartered as Salem Lodge, No. 4. The 
second lodge established by it brings us to a part of our 
subject text. Grand Master M. W. Berryman, Novem- 
ber 25, 1852, granted a dispensation to certain brethren 
residing at Olympia, Puget Sound, to open a lodge. 
There were seven of them. With one exception it was 
my pleasure to have personal acquaintance with all these 
brethren. There are minutes oi their ftrst meetings held 



68 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

by the dispensation ; and almost immediately they entered 
upon their duties with a zealous * regard for the best 
interests of Masonry, and the prosperous career of its 
existence. In their second meeting measures were con- 
sidered respecting the erection of this Masonic Hall, for 
which Mr. E. Sylvester had donated two town lots. 
Time fails to pay due tribute to the brethren who were 
among the first members. 

The second lodge was organized at Steilacoom in 
1854. Its early records were destroyed by fire, but it was 
probably in February. Of the petitioners for its forma- 
tion was Brother William Wallace, a lawyer of more 
than usual ability, subsequently appointed by President 
Lincoln Governor of Washington Territory, and also 
elected to Congress, and still later was Governor of Idaho 
Territory and delegate from that territory to Congress. 
William A. Slaughter was a Lieutenant in the United 
States Army, and earned the eulogy of his lodge for 
brave service, in which he was killed by Indians while 
holding the office of Acting Master. 

The third lodge, at Grand Mound, Thurston County, 
held its first meeting in 1857. s Charles Byles, one of its 
organizers, presided over the convention which organized 
the Grand Lodge of Washington, and was its first Grand 
Chaplain ; and another, James Bliss, was twice Grand 
Master of the jurisdiction. 

. . . The Grand Lodge was organized in this hall, 
December 8, 1858, with eleven members present. A 
profound realization that " goodness and mercy * have 
followed me all the days of my life " comes over me as 
I call to mind those eleven men. I alone remain on this 
side the " river of death "— laggingly, it may be, in the 
race which all men run. Since reaching the age of man- 
Hood I have devoted the greater part of my life and 



FREEMASONRY 69 

services to Masonry. For a period of forty- four years 
the Grand Lodge of Washington has, figuratively speak- 
ing, been the " child of my heart." I have seen our 
lodges in the jurisdiction increase from 4 to 114; the 
membership from 100 to over 7000. It has been my 
pleasure to know personally, and in most cases inti- 
mately, all the grand officers, the grand committees and 
working forces of the Grand Lodge. My acquaintance 
with the membership has been quite general ; and I might 
talk to you for hours of the high character of citizen- 
ship, the moral worth, virtues, and achievements of many 
brethren. All honor to the departed ! Let me express 
my heartfelt gratitude not only that my days have been 
prolonged to meet you, but to see Masonry in the State 
of Washington, at the close of its first half-cen- 
tury stronger than ever before, honored and respected 
throughout Christendom, governed by a code of laws 
as nearly in accord with the ancient landmarks as any 
code in existence; exemplifying in practice as well as 
instilling into the minds and consciences of its initiates, 
the great tenets of Freemasonry : Brotherly Love, Relief, ' 
and Truth ; the great principles of Faith, Hope, and 
Charity; and the cardinal virtues, Temperance, Forti- 
tude, Prudence, and Justice. Let me especially thank 
Him that He permits me to see this Grand Lodge and the 
craft throughout the State enter upon the second half- 
century of our history, guided and controlled by officers 
and brethren as worthy and well qualified, as zealous and 
devoted to the pure principles of our art, as were those 
God-fearing men, some of whose names I have men- 
tioned to-day, who laid the foundations upon which we 
are building. 

God bless Freemasonry in Washington ! May its land- 
marks never be infringed ! May its future far excel 



70 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

its past in all that exemplifies truth; in all that is wise, 
benevolent, and prosperous ! So mote it be ! 



MASONRY TRIUMPHANT 
An Anniversary Sermon * 

by rev. a. e. barnett. 

"And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and 
the song of the Lamb." — Rev. xv. 3. 

When we pass from the narrow confines of the room 
which represents to us some of the features of King 
Solomon's temple to that Temple " not made with hands, 
eternal in the heavens " what song shall we sing? Our 
text is the answer : " The song of Moses and the song 
of the Lamb." 

I. The Song of Moses. — What was that? 

1. The Song of Patriotism. — You will find its exact 
wording in Exodus xv. Miriam, the prophetess, with 
her timbrel, led the singing of the host that had escaped 
from Egypt through a lane made dry for them by God 
across the Red Sea. Baron Bunsen has said that modern 
history began on that memorable day. 

The song of the redeemed yonder is the song of every 
true Mason here. It is a fact that many of Earth's 
greatest patriots have been Freemasons. 

Cromwell with his sword and Milton with his pen 
saved liberty when it was being throttled by the Stuarts. 
That sublime poet who turned aside from writing one 

* Delivered at Tremont Methodist Episcopal Church, New- 
York. 



FREEMASONRY 7 1 

of the three great epic masterpieces of the world, 
which rank him with Homer and Virgil, to hurl his great 
Philippics on behalf of freedom, was a member of our 
Order. If you had gone to see the great Puritan in 
those pathetic days when sightless he awaited his Master's 
call to the lodge room where earth's faded vision be- 
comes clarified and keen, he would have expressed him- 
self as being even more proud of his patriotic thunder- 
bolts than of Paradise Lost. 

And now from thje blind Milton's London attic leap in 
thought across the white capped billows of a mighty 
ocean, and alight on a broad Virginian piazza as the sun 
comes creeping up to make an end of dawn. A proud and 
stately figure steps across the threshold. His eyes glance 
towards the Potomac. They are furnace eyes. Nor- 
mally they have a soft and benign expression, but now 
they blaze. There is no ferocious glitter or revengeful 
glare in them. They glow for liberty. They burn with 
patriotism. Let king and chancellor beware of eyes like 
those. 

Their flash sweeps through the Colonies and men of 
humble and noble birth spring up and refuse the shackles 
that tyranny threatens to impose. 

Their radiance lights up the gloomy terrors of Valley 
Forge, and soldiers' hearts beat with too warm a loyalty 
to heed the bloody footprints in the snow. 

The day will never come when Masons will forget 
the song of patriotism or fail to include in it a stanza 
of eulogy for America's great Masonic soldier and states- 
man and president, who was " first in peace, first in war, 
first in the hearts of his countrymen." 

Some foolishly think that our secrecy is incompatible 
with patriotism. As well suppose that a private meeting 
of directors of a corporation means bankruptcy, or a 



72 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Vatican conclave the horrors of the Inquisition. Indi- 
viduals, families, societies, have secret matters that it 
is not necessary or expedient to publish on the house- 
tops. 

If the publication of our secrets would enhance the 
interests of justice or the happiness of the world, or were 
they of a base or reprehensible nature, there might be 
no excuse for their retention ; but since they are not of 
this class we do not feel we should be blamed for putting 
a seal on our lips, and politely asking outsiders to mind 
their own business. 

Of this we are sure, that no Mason has ever absorbed 
the poison of disloyalty to our country, its flag, its con- 
stitution, or its rulers, from the principles and precepts 
he has acquired in the lodge-rooms of his Order. 

If it ever comes to a trial of strength in this country 
between anarchy and law, it will soon be discovered 
where every true Mason stands. It means something 
surely that in all this broad land there is not a worthy son 
of Masonry who does not place his hand on his heart, 
point to the Stars and Stripes, and say : 

" Wave on, peerless, matchless banner of the free ; 
wave on over army and navy, land and sea, cottage and 
mansion, capital and labor, school-house and church, 
lodge and home, black and white, living and dead." 

2. The Song of Law, — Examine the Constitutions of 
nations, the Magna Charta written in the blood of mar- 
tyrs, the decisions of great law courts, and what name do 
you find between and under the lines ? Moses. He rises 
in isolated grandeur above the law givers of all time. 
The moral law as enunciated by him is as obligatory to- 
day as on the day he uttered it. This, too, is a Masonic 
song. At no communication are our members permitted 
to forget the laws that circumscribe them. No man, 



FREEMASONRY 73 

unless he has become callous to the finest, most delicate, 
sacred things of life, can pass through the successive 
steps of Masonic initiation and be quite the same man 
that he was before. I have seen quite a little flippancy 
and gay frivolity in the candidate. I have heard him 
crack jokes and say funny things about " riding the 
goat," climbing greased poles, and branding with hot 
irons. That was in the ante-room. But when he enters 
the Lodge-room, and the gloomy stillness is broken by 
the solemn strains of " Nearer, My God, to Thee/' " Lead, 
Kindly Light," or, " Solemn Strikes the Funeral Chime/' 
and he is reminded that none should enter upon any great 
or important undertaking without first invoking the aid 
of Deity, and that though at other stages he had others to 
pray for him, now he must pray for himself, by this time 
all flippancy has vanished, all pride is humbled, and the 
angel of seriousness, long denied an entrance to the soul, 
is permitted to enter, and in many cases abides there 
forever. 

Hence, painful and galling to the Mason are libellous 
statements regarding the workings of the institution. 
With what contempt he reads in an ecclesiastical sheet 
published in this city, that the Masonic Order is atheistic ; 
that profane rites are practiced; that the Sacraments of 
the Church are travestied, and that Satan is wor- 
shiped ! 

Our defense may be entrusted to others. The New 
York Independent, in this case, acts as our attorney, 
and avers that, " Half of the membership of these organ- 
izations are communicants in Christian churches, and that 
their life and practice will compare favorably with the 
other half, not members of such orders." 

If that is not enough, let the thousands speak who have 
been cared for and provided with temporal necessities by 



74 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

our lodges. Let widows and orphans testify. Let these 
myriad testimonies converge and sw^ell and roll in one 
mighty, thunderous protest against the lying stigma and 
'the foul slander, whether uttered by editor or priest, that 
our Order is low or debasing, hostile to sound ethics or 
genuine religion. 

For what is the furniture of our lodges? No matter 
where they be situated, in New York or Hong Kong, 
Berlin or Oklahoma. 

It is the Bible, the Square, and the Compass. What 
does the Bible mean? Law. The Square? Law. The 
Compass ? Law. 

The Bible is on every Masonic altar, and its teachings 
underlie our principles. Go into any lodge-room in the 
wide world, and you will find the Book. We sadly fail 
in our efforts, I am aware, to shape our lives to the 
model it presents, but the fault is all our own and not the 
Order's to which, with all our unworthiness, we 
belong. 

The Square? That needs no explanation. Like the 
Decalogue, the Shepherd Psalm, the Beatitudes, it is self- 
explanatory. He is a " square " man ! Did you ever go 
to a dictionary for a definition of the term ? No ; instinct 
told you. 

A man whose word is enough. No oath or bond could 
strengthen it. 

A man who could no more do a mean thing than a 
broad-branched oak step out of the forest into a flower 
pot. 

A man no more likely to harm you than the King of 
Day to say : " I will not rise to-morrow." 

A man who would stand by you, if he believed you to 
be in the right, though a world traduced you, and a thou- 
sand daggers were aimed at your heart. 



FREEMASONRY 75 

A man who would rather die than lie, starve than 
cheat, be flayed alive than slander his brother, be cruci- 
fied than deny his manhood, betray his friend, or dishonor 
his God. 

My brother, that is the true Mason. That is what the 
Square teaches him to be. The Square means law. That 
is what the world expects you to be. That is what you 
must be if you are true to your Order, obedient to its 
high requirements, just to yourself, and mindful of your 
binding vows. 

The Square emphasizes what Wolsey taught Cromwell : 

" Be just and fear not. 

" Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's, thy 
God's, and truth's. 

" Then if thou fall'st, thou fall'st a blessed martyr." 

The Compass? Law still. That no man is a 
law unto himself. That others have rights he no more 
dares to invade than one star to transgress the orbit of 
another. 

With the Compass he says : " Passion, outside that 
circle thou canst not go! Selfishness, thus far and no 
farther ! " 

Whenever you see a brother permitting himself to 
trample over fences hallowed by sacred pledges, and 
wandering into forbidden grounds, show him the Com- 
pass, and he will stand reproved in the presence of its 
mute eloquence. 

Whenever you discover in yourself a tendency, how- 
ever faint, to violate the line that all morality and religion 
sanction, whisper the meaning of the Compass to your 
soul, and strengthen your will to obey its high behest. 

With furniture like this, will men say that you are 
atheistic, that your practices are profane, that the Sacra- 
ments are travestied, that Satan is worshiped? 



7 6 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

If they will say it, let them say it, for we know it to be 
a monstrous slander, whose father is ignorance, and 
whose mother is wickedness. 

j. The Song of Prophecy. — Not permitted himself to 
go over into the Promised Land, Moses predicted the 
fulfillment of God's promises for His people. Within the 
scope of his prophetic vision he saw the Land entered, 
conquered, occupied, a kingdom established, a Temple 
erected, all the glittering splendors of David's and Solo- 
mon's reign, and the everlasting rule of David's greater 
son. 

Masonry is embodied optimism, the incarnation of hope 
and good will. She believes in the capabilities of human 
nature, the willingness of the Divine to reinforce the 
human, the betterment of the world by the co-operation 
of God and man. 

She looks upon the past, gathers from hoary antiquity 
all that it has to teach, but keeps her eye steadily fixed on 
a future brighter than all the golden days of the past. 

The place of her origin must be remembered. She 
springs from no battle-field on which the war horses have 
trampled the mangled forms of men into gory sod. 

She owes no allegiance to the Pharaohs, who, to build 
them tombs, used human labor with the recklessness of 
savage monsters ; to the Neros, who, to glut the taste of 
a populace for blood, built amphitheaters wherein gladi- 
ators might give the death thrust to beast or brother ; to 
the Napoleons or the Weylers, whose coats-of-arms 
should be cross-bones, whose drinking cups should be 
skulls, and whose orchestras should be the shrieks of their 
slain. 

She knows them not, refuses to bow the knee to such 
monstrosities, and leaves them to the retributions of their 
fate. 



FREEMASONRY 77 

She consorts not with the idler, with the sycophant, 
the jester, whose life is a farce to soon end, a coil to be 
shuffled off, a comedy climaxed by tragedy. 

No, no ; she emerges from a Temple which silently 
rose into glorious amplitude, was built of rarest wood, 
finest stone, and purest gold, for " who is able to build 
Him an house seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens 
cannot contain Him ? " 

The builder, not the destroyer ; the toiling Mason, clad 
in his lambskin apron, grasping the trowel of labor, work- 
ing on from dawn to eve to convert the rough ashlar into 
the perfect ashlar, executing the designs marked by a 
greater than Hiram of Tyre upon the trestle-board of 
his life — this is the man she exalts in her ideals, welcomes 
to her fellowship, inspires by her principles, rewards by 
her " well done." 

With such an origin, proud of her history, she will not 
allow the ages to outmarch her ; she keeps abreast, and 
believes in the better day that is to be. 

Does she see the dim outline of a Temple behind? She 
also sees the rising architecture of a Temple before her. 
" And I John saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem, de- 
scending out of heaven from God, having the glory of 
God, and her light was like unto a stone most precious " 
— a Temple that shall stand forever. 

My brethren, we stand for the betterment of the world. 
We do not believe the world is going from bad to worse, 
but from better to best. ^/ 

Some people are always croaking about the " good old 
times." Let them croak, if they enjoy it. Those " good 
old times " meant the stage coach, instead of Empire 
State Express ; plunging the bleeding stump, shattered 
by a bullet, into boiling ^pitch ; the six-year-old boy kept 
naked in the coal mine for twelve or fourteen hours at a 



78 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

stretch ; death if you prayed your own prayer instead of 
the one in a prayer-book; persecution so bitter that our 
forefathers, " of whom the world was not worthy," were 
obliged to hold their communications in dens and caves 
of the earth. " They were stoned, they were sawn 
asunder, they wandered about in sheepskins and in 
goatskins," they were destitute, afflicted, tormented. 

A century hence, social, industrial, and moral condi- 
tions will have so improved that the men of that day will 
look upon this present period as comparatively barbaric, 
just as we look back upon the darkness of medieval days. 

In the marvelous transitions that are taking place, this 
great Order means cohesion, a conservatism not shackled, 
but free and aggressive ; a force that makes for the pros- 
perity, well-being, and moral improvement of the race. 

And this, because Masonry is founded upon, is per- 
meated with, and constantly inculcates those divine laws 
symbolized by the Bible, the Compass, and the Square. 

4. The Song of Immortality. — At the head of the 90th 
Psalm are these words: " A Song of Moses." I am not 
sure that he wrote it, but I am positive that he believed in 
immortality, that when on Mount Nebo he put his head 
on God's soft hand, he did so in the firm conviction that 
the ravishment of eternity was about to open before him. 
So God gave to his beloved sleep, and death, was swal- 
lowed up in victory. 

There is inspiration in the funeral of a Mason. There 
is sadness, of course, over the loss of a brother dearly 
beloved, a grief which finds fitting expression in the 
exclamation : " Alas, my brother ! " 

But I never see the acacia dropped upon the casket 
without hearing an echo of St. Paul's superb challenge: 
"O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy 
victory?^ 



FREEMASONRY 79 

I have had time to touch on one stanza only of 
Heaven's song. But there is another. 

II. The Song of Redemption. — " And the Song of 
the Lamb." 

Moses was the schoolmaster to bring us to the greater 
Prophet he foretold. 

" The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth 
came by Jesus Christ/' 

We turn from Sinai, enshrouded with the smoke of the 
Divine presence, to the little town of Bethlehem, where 
the Babe is cradled who is to change the face of history, 
and to a place called Calvary, where He wins the world 
by sacrifice. 

I was called to see a Masonic brother in the icy grip of 
death. ' He w T hispered : " I have a great want." I 
replied: " You have tender care, hosts of friends, envi- 
able repute, and a chance to live." 

He gasped : " I want to know my sins forgiven." The 
plank I threw to him was this simple message : " It is a 
faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus 
Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I 
am chief." 

He closed his eyes and floated on it into the calm har- 
bor where the surges cease to roll. 

The holy Saints John are deeply reverenced by every 
Mason. The Song of Redemption was precious to both 
of them. 

One said : " Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away 
the sin of the world." 

The other declared : " These things are written that ye 
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Saviour of the 
world." 

We, like the choir invisible, must sing both stanzas of 
the Song. 



80 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

The Song of Moses, the servant of God, for that is the 
song of patriotism, law, prophecy, and immortality. 

" And the Song of the Lamb," for that is the song of 
our personal redemption and the world's salvation. 

" Crown Him with many crowns, 

The Lamb upon His throne, 
Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns 

All music but its own. 
Awake, my soul, and sing 

Of Him who died for thee, 
And hail Him as thy matchless king 

Through all eternity." 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 
A Masonic Eulogy * 

BY PRESIDENT WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 

We have just participated in a service commemora- 
tive of the iooth anniversary of the death of George 
Washington. Here at his old home, which he loved so 
well, and which the patriotic women of this country have 
guarded with loving hands, exercises are conducted under 
the auspices of the great Fraternity of Masons, which a 
century ago planned and executed the solemn ceremonial 
which attended the Father of his Country to his tomb. 
The Lodge in which he was initiated and the one over 
which he afterward presided as Worshipful Master, 
accorded positions of honor at his obsequies, are to-day 

* An address delivered at the Masonic celebration of the cen- 
tennial of the death of Washington, at Mount Vernon, December 
14, 1899. 



FREEMASONRY 81 

represented here in token of profound respect to the 
memory of their most illustrious member and beloved 
brother. 

Masons throughout the United States testify anew 
their reverence for the name of Washington and the 
inspiring example of his life. Distinguished representa- 
tives are here from all the Grand Lodges of the country 
to render the ceremonies as dignified and impressive as 
possible, and most cordial greetings have come from 
across our borders and from beyond the sea. 

Not alone in this country, but throughout the world, 
have Masons taken an especial interest in the observation 
of this centennial anniversary. The Fraternity justly 
claims the immortal patriot as one of its members ; the 
whole human family acknowledges him as one of its 
greatest benefactors. Public bodies, patriotic societies, 
and other organizations, our citizens everywhere, have 
esteemed it a privilege to-day to pay their tribute to his 
memory, and to the splendor of his accomplishments in 
the advancement of justice and liberty among men. " His 
fair fame, secure in its immortality, shall shine through 
countless ages with undiminished luster." 

The struggling Republic for which Washington was 
willing to give his life, and for which he ever freely spent 
his fortune, and which at all times was the object of his 
most earnest solicitude, has steadily and wonderfully 
developed along the lines which his sagacity and foresight 
r carefully planned. It has stood every trial, and at the 
dawn of a new century is stronger than ever to carry 
forward its mission of liberty. During all the interven- 
ing years it has been true, forever true, to the precepts of 
the Constitution which he and his illustrious colleagues 
framed for its guidance and government. He was the 
national architect, says Bancroft, the historian, and 



82 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

but for him the Nation could not have achieved its inde- 
pendence, could not have formed its union, could not 
have put the Federal Government into operation. He 
had neither precedent nor predecessor. His work was 
original and constructive, and has successfully stood the 
severest tests. He selected the site for the capital of the 
Republic he founded, and gave it the name of the Fed- 
eral City, but the Commission substituted the name of 
Washington as the more fitting, and to be a perpetual 
recognition of the services of the Commander-in-chief of 
the Continental Army, the president of the convention 
which framed the Constitution, and the first President of 
the Republic. More than seventy millions of people 
acknowledge allegiance to the flag which he made tri- 
umphant. The nation is his best eulogist and his noblest 
monument. 

I have been deeply interested and touched by the senti- 
ments of his contemporaries, uttered a hundred years ago, 
on the occasion of his death. The Rev. Walter King, of 
Norwich, Conn., in the course of an eloquent eulogy 
delivered in that city on January 5, 1800, said in part: 
" By one mighty effort of manly resolution we were born 
anew, and declared our independence. Now commenced 
the bloody contest for everything we held dear. The 
same Almighty Being, by whose guidance we were 
hitherto conducted, beheld us with compassion, and saw 
what we needed — a pilot, a leader in the enterprise we 
had undertaken. He called for Washington, already pre- 
pared, anointed him as His servant, with regal dignity, 
and put into his hands the control of all our defensive 
operations. But here admiration suppresses utterance. 
Your own minds must fill out the active character of 
the man. A description of the warlike skill, the pro- 
found wisdom, the prudence, the heroism and integrity 



FREEMASONRY 83 

which he displayed in the character of the Commander-in- 
chief would suffer materially in hands like mine. But 
this I may say: The eyes of all our American Israel 
were placed upon him as their savior, under the direction 
of Heaven, and they were not disappointed/' 

The Rev. Nathan Strong, pastor of the North Presby- 
terian Church, in Hartford, spoke as follows on Decem- 
ber 2J, 1799: " He was as much the angel of peace as 
of war, as much respected, as deeply reverenced in the 
political cabinet for a luminous coolness of disposition, 
whereby party jealousy became enlightened and ashamed 
of itself, as he was for a coolness of command in the 
dreadful moment when empires hung suspended on the 
fate of battle. His opinions became the opinion of public 
bodies, and every man was pleased with himself when he 
found he thought like Washington. Under the auspices 
of this great warrior, who was formed by the Providence 
of God to defend his country, the war was ended and 
America ranked among the nations. He who might have 
been a monarch retired to his own Vernon, unclothed 
of all authority, to enjoy the blessing of being a free 
private citizen. This was a strange sight, and gave a 
new triumph to human virtue — a triumph that hath never 
been exceeded in the history of the world, except it was 
by his second recess, which was from the Presidency of 
the United States." 

And on the day preceding December 26, 1799, in the 
course of his memorable funeral oration before both 
houses of Congress, Major General Lee, then a Repre- 
sentative from the State of Virginia, gave utterance to the 
noble sentiment, as forceful to-day as in those early years 
of our National life : " To the horrid din of battle sweet 
peace succeeded, and our virtuous chief, mindful only 
of the common good, in a moment tempting personal 



84 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

aggrandizement, hushed the discontent of growing sedi- 
tion, and, surrendering his power into the hands from 
which he had received it, converted his sword into a 
plowshare, teaching an admiring world that to be truly 
great you must be truly good." 

While strong with his own generation, he is stronger 
even in the judgment of the generations which have 
followed. After a lapse of a century he is better appre- 
ciated, more perfectly understood, more thoroughly 
venerated and loved than when he lived. He remains 
an ever increasing influence for good in every part and 
sphere of action of the Republic. He is recognized as 
not only the most far-sighted statesman of his generation, 
but as having had almost prophetic vision. He built 
not alone for his own time, but for the great future, 
and pointed the rightful solution of many of the problems 
which were to arise in the years to come. 

John Adams, the immediate successor of Washington, 
said of him in an address to the Senate on December 23, 
1799: " For himself he had lived enough to life and 
to glory. For his fellow citizens, if their prayers could 
have been answered, he w r ould have been immortal. . . . 
His example is nOw complete, and it will teach wisdom 
and virtue to magistrates, citizens, and men, not only in 
the present age, but in future generations, as long as 
our history shall be read." 

The Nation needs at this moment the help of his wise 
example. In dealing with our vast responsibilities we 
turn to him. We invoke the counsel of his life and 
character and courage. We summon his precepts, that 
we may keep his pledge to maintain justice and law, 
education and morality, and civil and religious liberty in 
every part of our country, the new as well as the old. 



FREEMASONRY 85 

FREEMASONRY; A STATEMENT 

BY BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.* 

It (Freemasonry) has secrets peculiar to itself; but 
of what do these principally consist? They consist of 
signs and tokens, which serve as testimonials of char- 
acter and qualifications, which are only conferred after 
a due course of instruction and examination. These are 
of no small value ; they speak a universal language, and 
act as a passport to the attention and support of the 
initiated in all parts of the world. They cannot be lost 
so long as memory retains its power. Let the possessor 
of them be expatriated, shipwrecked, or imprisoned; let 
him be stripped of everything he has got in the world; 
still these credentials remain and are available for use as 
circumstances require. The great effects which they 
have produced are established by the most incontestable 
facts of history. They have stayed the uplifted hand of 
the destroyer; they have softened the asperities of the 
tyrant ; they have mitigated the horrors of captivity ; they 
have subdued the rancor of malevolence, and broken 
down the barriers of political animosity and sectarian 
alienation. On the field of battle, in the solitude of the 
uncivilized forest, or in the busy haunts of the crowded 
city, they have made men of the most hostile feelings, 
and most distant religions, and the most diversified con- 
ditions, rush to the aid of each other, and feel social joy 
and satisfaction that they have been able to afford relief 
to a brother Mason. 

* Himself a Freemason : From A. C. Stevens' " Cyclopedia 
of Fraternities," New York, 1899. 



86 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

AN INCIDENT OF THE CIVIL WAR 

In one of the battles of Virginia during the Civil War 
the Federals were retreating rapidly, and the hospital 
corps also, leaving many wounded on the battle field. A 
Northern soldier who was supposed to be mortally 
wounded was about to be left to his fate, when a Con- 
federate soldier spied him and came towards him. As 
he approached the wounded soldier gave a Masonic sign, 
and the Confederate knelt beside him and gave him the 
grip. 

The Confederate's home was close by, and wish- 
ing to make the soldier's last moments comfortable, 
he carried him to his home that he might be well cared 
for, thereby showing the noble traits of a true Mason. 
The Confederate then resumed his command. The Fed- 
eral recovered from his wound, which fortunately proved 
not to be fatal, and was allowed to return to his home 
with a feeling of great reverence and love for that noble 
and magnanimous brother Mason. The man who had 
the opportunity to take his life had refrained from doing 
so on account of his appreciation of the tenets of Ma- 
sonry — "Brotherly love, relief, and truth." 

Now comes the chance for the Federal to show his 
gratitude and let his brother in Masonry know that his 
great kindness was not forgotten. He read an announce- 
ment in the papers of a wedding about to take place 
in prominent society. He remembered their names, 
although he had lost sight of them — the family having 
moved to the State of Texas, and the lady being no less 
a personage than the daughter of the brother Free- 
mason who saved his life. On the wedding day the 
daughter received quite a sum of money in the form 



FREEMASONRY 87 

of a check as a wedding present, together with an ac- 
count of the great kindness of her father to the sender, 
and recalling the incident in Virginia. The Federal is 
a business man of some note near Dallas, and was pleased 
to have the opportunity presented to him to reciprocate 
in some measure the noble generosity of this great- 
hearted Confederate. Pacific Mason. 



IRISH MASONRY 

The recent progress of Freemasonry in Ireland has 
been uninterrupted notwithstanding the condition of the 
country, which at times threatened the peace of the com- 
munity. The close of 1903 found the craft in Ireland 
more prosperous than heretofore, and its benevolent 
objects more extended and useful. 

Extraordinary success made the Masonic orphan 
schools conspicuous among educational institutions, their 
examinations showing a high average percentage among 
the girls. Fees granted on this account amounted to 
£352, besides science prizes ; while the boys did even 
better. The fees in the boys' examinations were £216 in 
1888, but in 1901 they rose to £451, and in 1902 to £$7S- 
Other large gifts were called out by success in other 
Masonic schools. The Duke of Connaught, as Grand 
Master of England, paid an -official visit to the girls' 
school at Ballsbridge, and took part in other functions 
during the year. 

The Victoria Jubilee Annuity Fund was established for 
the assistance of aged Freemasons and the widows of 
deceased Masons. It held in 1902 invested funds 



88 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

amounting to £7166, and twenty-eight annuities were 
benefited by this fund. 

Viscount Templetown, Provincial Grand Master of 
Armagh, dedicated in 1902 the Young Memorial Masonic 
Hall at Monaghan. The cost was about £1600. 

Dublin Express. 



ODD FELLOWS 

Historical. — This Order numbers in its different branches over 
two million members, of whom about half are in the United 
States; the principal bodies in England and America, however, 
being independent of each other. 

In the latter part of the eighteenth century a number of socie- 
ties of mechanics and laborers in London were known as " An- 
cient and Honorable Loyal Odd Fellows," and among these was 
formed the " Union Order of Odd Fellows," which soon estab- 
lished branches in other English cities. Some of these societies 
were occupied with the question whether their meetings were 
not of too convivial a character, and a separation came in 1813, 
when several Lodges formed the '* Manchester Unity," and in 
1825, a central standing committee was established in Manchester 
to govern the Order in the interim between the sessions of the 
Grand Lodge. The Manchester Unity did not suceed in includ- 
ing all the English Lodges of Odd Fellows ; but it took in much 
the greater part, and still constitutes the main body of British 
Odd Fellowship, and at present includes about 750,000 of the 
1,000,000 Odd Fellows in England, and reports over $35,000,000 of 
sick, funeral, and other benefit funds. 

Of the smaller bodies in England, the Grand United Order 
(claiming to be the parent organization), has over 100,000 mem- 
bers, the Nottingham Imperial Independent Order has 50,000, 
and the National Independent Order 64,000. 

The Order was brought to the United States in 1819, when 
Washington Lodge, No. 1, was organized in Baltimore, Md., to 
work according to the usages of the London or Union Order, 
Thomas Wildey and four associates being the founders. The 
year following, a Lodge was organized in Boston, Mass., and in 
1821, one in Philadelphia, Pa. The Baltimore Lodge granted 
charters in 1823 to these Lodges in Boston and Philadelphia, 
but at the same time granted a charter for a Grand Lodge in 
New York, and before long Lodges were chartered all over rhe 
United States, and Grand Lodges had been formed in Maryland, 
Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts. 

The progress of the Order was hindered by the popular anti- 
Masonic excitement; but, on the other hand, the Odd Fellows 
were commended to some by their supposed freedom from extrav- 
agant vows and oaths which were popularly charged against 
Masonry. 

The Odd Fellows in America generally acknowledged the 
Manchester Unity as their origin; but September 22, 1842, the 
Grand Lodge of the United States adopted a resolution of sepa- 
ration from the Manchester Unity, and the American Order 



9° THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

has been nominally and actually independent. It has prospered 
very greatly, and spread into Canada in 1843, the Hawaiian 
Islands in 1846, Australia in 1868, Germany in 1870, as well as 
into Switzerland and South America. 

In 1895, the Order owned 3830 halls, or buildings, for meetings, 
which, w r ith the land, were valued at $16,521,724. It also owned 
twenty-four homes, asylums, and orphanages, with 3882 acres of 
land, valued at $1,000,000; and it published forty-nine papers and 
periodicals, in half-a-dozen languages. There was also a num- 
ber of mutual aid societies, to which Odd Fellows alone were 
eligible, and mutual accident associations, giving to the Order 
the advantages of the mutual benefit orders. Systematic annual 
contributions for the relief of the sick and distressed, the burial 
of the dead, and the education of orphans, amounted in 1897 to 
$3,364,628. 

Higher Degrees. — The Order of Odd Fellows has for its 
emblem a chain of three links, which are symbolic of Friendship, 
Love, and Truth. An applicant for membership must profess 
belief in the existence of a Supreme Being, and the lessons of 
the Lodge impress the truth of the fatherhood of God and the 
brotherhood of man. 

When originally organized in America, the Order had three 
degrees, the White, Blue, and Scarlet. Soon two additional or 
intermediate degrees, called the Covenant Degree and the De- 
gree of Remembrance, were adopted, and in 1826 were incorpo- 
rated into its ritual by the Manchester Unity in England. 

These five degrees were conferred till 1880, when the Sover- 
eign American Grand Lodge reduced or condensed them into 
Initiatory (White), and the Pink, Blue, and Scarlet degrees. 

The presiding officer of the Lodge is called the Noble Grand, 
and former presiding officers are Past Grands. On these is con- 
ferred the Grand Lodge degree, the Grand Lodge being made up 
of Noble Grands and Past Grands. The Grand Lodges, in turn, 
send their presiding and past-presiding officers, Grand Masters 
and Past Grand Masters to represent them in the Sovereign 
Grand Lodge, and confer upon them the Royal Purple degree. 
The presiding officer of the Sovereign Grand Lodge is called the 
Grand Sire. 

The principal emblems in the Initiatory degree are the All- 
Seeing Eye, the Three Links, the Skull and Cross-Bones, and 
Scythe; in the Degree of Friendship, the Bow and Arrow, and 
the Quiver and Bundle of Sticks; in the Degree of Love, the 
Axe, the Heart, and Hand, the Globe, Ark, and Serpent; and in 
the Degree of Truth, the Scales and Sword, the Bible, Hour- 
glass, and the Coffin. 

The Superior degrees are conferred in Encampments. To 
receive them, one must be an Odd Fellow in good standing in 
his Lodge, and must apply for, and be elected, to membership in 
an Encampment. Encampments are presided over by Worthy 
Patriarchs, and are under the immediate direction of Grand 



ODD FELLOWS 9 1 

(State) Encampments. These are entirely separate from Grand 
(State) Lodges, but are, like them, subordinate to the Sovereign 
Grand Lodge of the United States of America. The subordinate 
Encampments form a strong section of Odd Fellowship, having 
an enrolled membership of about 150,000, or one-sixth of the 
entire Order. 

The Encampment degrees, Patriarchal, Golden Rule, and 
Royal Purple, were originally conferred on subordinate Lodges 
as supplementary degrees, the Golden Rule being introduced into 
the Lodge ritual in 1821, and called the " Fourth Degree." In 
1825 the Royal Purple was promulgated by the Grand Lodge. 
Both of these were of American origin. In 1826 the Patriarchal 
degree was received from the English Independent Order. It 
was placed first in the work of the Encampment, Faith, Hope, 
and Charity being emphasized in this degree. These superior 
degrees were at first conferred only on Past Grands, and at the 
sessions of the Grand Lodge. But the first Encampment was 
formed in 1827, at Baltimore, to confer superior degrees on 
brothers who were not members of the Grand Lodge, and the 
ritual has been revived, altered and enlarged in 1835, 1845, and 
1880. In 1829 the first Encampment was rechartered as an 
Encampment of Patriarchs, with power to establish Encamp- 
ments. From this time, Patriarchal Odd Fellowship spread 
rapidly into Pennsylvania and New York, and in 183 1 the posses- 
sion of the Royal Purple degree was made a necessary qualifica- 
tion to become a Grand Representative. Some jealousy of the 
higher degrees has existed in the Lodge, but they have main- 
tained themselves, as a goal to which Lodge members hope to 
attain. 

In 1870 a Patriarchal uniform was proposed, and was adopted 
by the Sovereign Grand Lodge as a degree of uniformed Patri- 
archs. This is the existing military branch of the Order. It is 
recruited from among the Patriarchs. Separate bodies of Patri- 
archs Militant are called Cantons, and members of Cantons are 
known as chevaliers, and the officers of the organization have 
distinctively military titles. In 1887 the uniformed order was 
reorganized to confer three degrees, (1) the Grand Decoration 
of Chivalry, to be conferred on Chevaliers, selected by the Com- 
mander; (2) the Decoration of Chivalry, to be conferred on 
Chevaliers selected by Cantons and by Department Command- 
ers; and (3) the Decoration of Chivalry, to be conferred -on 
women— members of the degree of Rebekah. 

The growth of the Uniformed rank has been rapid. In 1885 
there was only one Canton of Patriarchs Militant, with a total 
membership of thirty. In two years there were reported 462 
Cantons and 15,259 Chevaliers. This first rapid growth was 
followed by decline, but afterwards by revival, and in 1896 there 
were over 25,000 Patriarchs Militant. 

Degree of Rebekah.— This degree was prepared for the wives, 
sisters, widows, and daughters of Odd Fellows. The Grand Lodge 



92 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

of the United States in 1850 appointed the Hon. Schuyler Colfax, 
afterwards Speaker of the House of Representatives and still later 
Vice President of the United States, chairman of a committee 
to prepare a degree, to be conferred on the wives of Odd Fellows. 
He received helpful suggestions from others, and himself wrote 
the lectures and prepared the ritual which was adopted in 185 1. 

The degree was named Rebekah in view of the tender and 
considerate action of Rebekah at the well of Nahor, as she min- 
istered to the weary Eleazer. The principal emblems of the 
ritual are the beehive, moon and seven stars, and the dove. The 
ritual has been very popular, and is said to be of great beauty, 
and has remained unchanged since its adoption. 

The Rebekah Lodges in the United States have a membership 
of nearly 300,000. At first the degree was conferred in Odd 
Fellows Lodges on wives and daughters of Odd Fellows who had 
attained the Scarlet, or highest, Lodge degree. In 1869 separate 
Rebekah Lodges were instituted. In 1894 the degree was opened 
to other "single white women, of good moral character, over 
eighteen years of age " in addition to wives, widows and daugh- 
ters of Odd Fellows. In 1896 the Sovereign Grand Lodge 
adopted " a universal sign of recognition between Odd Fellows 
and Daughters of Rebekah/' 

Coteries of Daughters Militant have been organized in con- 
nection with the Uniformed Rank. There has been opposition 
to them, but they have maintained an existence and growth. 

The Rebekah Lodges are presumed to supplement the charita- 
ble work of Odd Fellowship in relieving the sick and distressed, 
and caring for the widow and orphan. 

Other Bodies of Odd Fellows. — There are several independent 
bodies of Odd Fellows, both in England and in the United States, 
which were not included in the several associations of Lodges 
into Grand Lodges, or have withdrawn from the regular Grand 
Lodge control. 

Among these, probably the largest is the Grand United Order 
of Odd Fellows, made up of negro members. This branch origi- 
nated in 1842, when Patrick H. Reason, James Fields, and other 
negroes of New York city, had associated themselves in a social 
and literary society, under the name of the Philomathean Insti- 
tute, and petitioned the American Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows for a dispensation forming their society into an Odd 
Fellows' Lodge. The petition was not granted, because the 
signers were of African descent. 

The latter, however, joined forces with the " Philadelphia Lit- 
erary Company and Debating Society," and asked a dispensation 
from the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows, the parent Order 
in England. 

The English Manchester Unity had seceded from the Grand 
United Order in 1813, and the Independent Order in the United 
States had seceded from the Manchester Unity in 1842, and the 
petition for a dispensation being carried to England by Peter 



ODD FELLOWS 93 

Ogden, a negro member of Victoria Odd Fellows' Lodge, at Liv- 
erpool, the petition was sent up by Ogden's Lodge to the Grand 
United Order, and that body granted the dispensation, under 
which Philomathean Lodge, in New York, was formed March 
1, 1843. 

Ogden thus became the founder of the Grand United Order 
in the United States, in connection with the Order of the same 
name in England. He was a man of good education and ener- 
getic ability. Within four years he was Deputy, presiding over 
an American branch, which included twenty-two Lodges, and 
before his death, in 1852, he saw the Order well established in 
New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jer- 
sey, Delaware, and Maryland; and in 1863, at its twentieth anni- 
versary, there were fifty active Lodges in the United States, 
Canada, and Bermuda. 

After the Civil War the Order w T as extended through the 
Southern States, and to the Pacific coast. 

The forty-first general meeting was held in Washington City 
in 1892, and was one of the largest gatherings of its kind ever 
convened. The delegates present numbered 400, and included 
clergymen, physicians, lawyers, bankers, merchants, manufac- 
turers, army officers, and others from New England, California, 
Canada, the Gulf States, and Cuba. 

A peculiar feature of this branch of Odd Fellows was estab- 
lished in 1844, in the " Councils of Past Grand Masters," or the 
" Patriarchal Order of Past Grand Masters in America." Only 
Past Grand Masters are eligible to membership, and it thus be- 
comes a higher degree. Patriarchies composed of Most Vener- 
able Patriarchs (Past Grand Masters), who have rendered the 
Order particularly meritorious services, are an English adjunct 
of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows, introduced into the 
American branch in 1873. In this division are conferred three 
degrees, as is true also of the Councils of Venerable Grand 
Masters. 

The Household of Ruth is a branch open to the wives, widows, 
widowed mothers, sisters, and daughters of members, and Past 
Noble Grands among male members. It was suggested by Mr. 
Patrick H. Reason in 1856, and in 1857 a ritual of this degree 
was submitted and forwarded to the English governing body, 
which sent it back approved in 1858. The ritual is founded on 
the beautiful story of Ruth and Naomi, 

The general report of 1895 showed that the Order had 
increased from the single Lodge instituted in New York in 1843 
to 2253 Lodges, with 70,000 members. There were thirty-six 
Grand Lodges, controlling property valued at $1,500,000, and 
during the year the Order had paid out $84,000 for the relief of 
sick members, widows, and orphans, and for funeral expenses. 
There were then 1003 Households of Ruth, having 40,000 mem- 
bers, 183 Councils, with 3420 members, and 88 Patriarchies, with 
1889 members. 



94 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

GROWTH AND CONDITION OF I. O. O. F. 

Annual Address * 
by grand sire alfred s. pinkerton. 

Representatives: Gathered within this beautiful city, 
the bright jewel of a splendid commonwealth, sur- 
rounded by an intelligent and progressive people and by 
a brotherhood that has ever been loyal to Odd Fellow- 
ship, and to the great principles which it represents, I 
welcome you to the seventy-fifth annual session of the 
Sovereign Grand Lodge and congratulate you upon the 
position, harmony, and prosperity that attends our Order 
throughout its wide domain. 

Eighty years ago American Odd Fellowship was born. 
Seventy-five years since the Grand Lodge of the United 
States, now the Sovereign Grand Lodge, came into 
existence. 

Wonderful has been the development of the Fraternity. 
In 1819, one lodge and five members. In 1899, 11,419 
lodges and 830,961 members. During the last sixty-nine 
years 2,252,784 persons have crossed our threshold, and 
from a total revenue of $209,833,559.13 during this 
period, the sum of $80,903,642.61 has been distributed, 
not in alms, but in fraternal and brotherly relief. 

So much, dry numerals tell, but who can estimate the 
Order's worth as expressed, by brother to brother, in 
the fraternal hand-grasp, in the kindly and timely act, 
and in the words of salutation and farewell. 

The accumulation of material wealth is not the only, 

* Before the Sovereign Grand Lodge, Detroit, Mich., Septem- 
ber 18, 1899. 



ODD FELLOWS 95 

nor the true rule by which the accomplishments of organ- 
izations, or of individuals, are to be measured. 

Rejoicing in its monetary strength, and in the resources 
that enable it to do its destined and chosen work, we 
know that our Fraternity lives and prospers, because a 
utilitarian people have recognized its fundamental faith 
to be true, and have beheld the practical exemplification 
of that faith. Founded in a splendid sentiment, Odd 
Fellowship has earned its place amid the civilizing and 
Christianizing forces of our age. Its works have been 
those of a practical brotherhood, its victories varied and 
enduring. 

Widespread as our Order is, permeating the atmos- 
phere of our daily life, woven into the fabric of our 
social and political existence ; the evidence of its hourly 
work, its aggressive and progressive force, is a refutation 
of the oft-repeated, but false, assertion, that the citizens 
of this world are not as good as were their fathers. We 
do not live in a period of retrogradation. The world is 
brighter to-day than ever before. The people of this 
world are cleaner, purer, better, than were those who 
preceded them. Never were the great masses of the 
people so well housed, fed, and cared for as now, and 
never has the individual man been more sure of his 
political and religious freedom. Education has illumined 
the land and brought happiness to those who strive; the 
laborer can now behold his son seated in honor in the 
temple, and his daughters raised above the dregs and 
drudgery of life. 

The human race is on the upward march. Welcome 
every agency of whatever name or creed, that lends a 
helping hand to those that need it, or scatter flowers be- 
neath the bruised and bleeding feet of those who toil 
upon life's pathway! Our Order is a mighty force in 



96 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

this uplifting work. It has contributed its strength and 
power to the betterment of men, and as we meet to 
legislate for our ever expanding fraternity, may wisdom 
and tolerance so guide and direct our councils, that this 
session of our supreme legislature may be remembered 
for the benefits it has conferred upon, and the encourage- 
ment it has given to our beloved fraternity. As the 
clouds of the past made possible the sunlight of to-day, 
so may its experience direct the path our feet should 
tread. 

I submit an account of my stewardship, together with 
such suggestions and recommendations as to me seem 
best. 

Membership. — December 31st last, our subordinate 
lodge membership was 830,961, and the number of sisters 
enrolled in the Rebekah lodges numbered 190,007. These 
figures exhibit a total membership of 1,020,968, and 
enable us for the first time honestly to claim fraternal 
affiliations with over a million persons. 

These figures show an increase of 18,041 in subordi- 
nate lodge membership, and of 12,184 m female member- 
ship of Rebekah lodges ; a total net gain during the year 
of 30,255. 

The number of subordinate lodges has been increased 
by 190, making 11,419 now in existence, while the 5,053 
Rebekah lodges indicate an increase of 257. 

Revenue. — The total revenue during 1898 was $8,- 
766,393.56. The total expenditure, $7,582,712.96. Sur- 
plus of revenue over expenditure, $1,183,680.60. 

Relief. — 87,613 brothers and 5707 widowed families 
shared in the $3,422,986.50 distributed in relief. 

The total invested funds of the Order amount to 
$27,185,241.46, a gain of $796,545.72; surely a profitable 
showing, especially in view of the fact that during the 



ODD FELLOWS 97 

same time our expenses increased by $194,572,776, and 
the amount paid for relief by $58,357.09, while the total 
revenue decreased $79,866.34. 

The substantial increase in subordinate membership, as 
compared with an average net gain of 8399 during the 
past four years, and of 6989 during the past two years, 
illustrates the latent energy of our Order, and argues 
well for what is to come. As long as Odd Fellowship 
is maintained in its purity, the subordinate lodge will 
continue to be strong. 



SOVEREIGN GRAND LODGE, I. O. O. F. 
Annual Address* 

by grand sire a. c. cable. 

Brothers: Into the shadowy depths of the dreamless 
past has rolled another year, a year that rounded up and 
completed a century. The valleys and the hill-tops are 
now being painted with autumn's sunset tints of twilight 
glory, and we are most forcibly reminded by the rustle 
of the leaf, the whispering perfumed breezes, that we 
are one year nearer our eternal Home. 

As Odd Fellows, we find as much pleasure in looking 
backward as we feel in looking forward. The past comes 
before us, in which we see the blanched cheeks of men 
and women struggling against adversity's tide, and then 
the picture of stalwart hearts and willing hands making 
fields of hope from the fallows of despair, and where 
once were misery and tears, are found contentment and 
joy. ' - • ;_ 

*Des Moines, Iowa, September 15, 1902. 



98 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Man's fraternity to man has given countless thousands 
relief against distress, and for the shadows that cast 
their gloom over the fireside there have come the bright 
rays of brotherly love, banishing want and care with 
the magic sunlight of our help. 

The past century has been called the century of 
achievements. The nineteenth century, however, his 
produced nothing so great as its men, its women, and its 
institutions of organized benevolence. Great person- 
alities have appeared in art and literature, in inven- 
tion and commerce, in philanthropy and religion, in 
science, and in politics. The past century will be for- 
ever memorable as having given to the world Cavour, the 
reconstructor of Italy; Lincoln, the liberator, and one 
of the great constructive statesmen of America ; Bis- 
marck, the unifier of Germany ; Victoria, England's 
lovely Queen, who served the British Empire longest, and 
was the most beloved of all the British rulers ; Wildey, 
the founder, and Ridgely, the great constructor of Odd 
Fellowship, whom Odd Fellows the world over regard 
as the most practical benefactor in the world's history. 

When history spreads before you the bloody page of 
war, and Alexander, in the breadth of his campaigns ; 
Marlborough, in the number and certainty of his vic- 
tories ; Hannibal, in the difficulties which he encountered ; 
Napoleon, in his genius, resources and results ; Martel, in 
his persistent hammering; Wellington, in his cold, cal- 
culating methods and astounding victories ; Grant, " the 
man on horseback/' " the silent man," whose tribute of 
love and loyalty to all the people was embodied in the 
enduring words of " Let us have peace ! " Lee, the 
world-renowned soldier and educator, whose sword was 
a trophy that Alexander, Caesar, and Napoleon would 
have envied as the brightest diadem for victory's jeweled 



ODD FELLOWS 99 

crown ; Dewey and Schley, whose great battles at Manila 
Bay and off the coast from Santiago, respectively, made 
them the great heroes of modern times of the navies of 
the world, march across the canvas of your vision, your 
heart grows faint and sick within you; it is then you 
turn away your face to look upon the real heroes of the 
world, and to the men who have stepped from earth to 
heaven on noble deeds nobly done for others. 

It is then that your eyes are dimmed with tears of 
gratitude to God that He made man so noble in feeling 
and glorious in destiny. 

All the philosophers in mediaeval times, all the men 
who wrote the chronicles of those years, unite in telling 
us how great were the good influences of the Knights 
Errant, who went up and down the world, redressing 
human wrongs, championing the cause of the weak, 
wearing the color of their lady love, living above their 
age in virtuous morality, and dying as heroes on the 
battle-field. But, my brothers, would you see the real 
heroes of the world, the men who laid broad and deep 
the foundation of our age and all succeeding ages, then 
turn your eyes to that procession where march no Knights 
in glittering mail, where rustle no implements of war and 
savagery, but where pass in review the sons of God— the 
sons of peace, wearing the jeweled helmet of immortal 
hope for all men and the breastplate of Friendship, Love, 
and Truth for all who toil and struggle under the bur- 
dens of this life. 

In a world such as ours it ought not to seem strange 
that our common Father, God, has kept the best wine of 
civilization until the last of the feast. Everything in 
nature and history tells us that this is the law of the uni- 
verse, the solemn, strange march of creation — " moving 
to unheard music with unseen banners to some ; great 

LcfC. 



loo THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

enterprise." When this march of creation shall have 
ended, and the sons of men hang out their banners on 
the battlements of Heaven, and the rolls of honor are 
read, those who have truly loved their fellow-men will 
enter upon their reward. In the earthly life of the human 
race God pitches His tent close beside the tents of His 
children, and inspires His sons to speak His words, and 
opens the eyes of each new-born babe to behold the 
beatific vision, and deluges each day with the greatness of 
His own divinity. God is ever as of old. So long as 
the flowers bloom, and the dew is on the grass, and the 
light is in the sky, the rustle of His garments is heard, 
— and His hand stretches out, and His ear bends to hear 
our human voices and to fill our souls with His own 
thought and speech. " What God was, He is ; what He 
did, He does; what He said, He says." Shall we, who 
stand before all the world as the representatives of His 
will, say, by an indifference to His expressed command: 
" Thou hast been, but Thou art not now concerned with 
the welfare of men," forgetful that through service we 
reveal the life of God — the life of sovereign worth and 
everlastingness ? Your works of Friendship, Love, and 
Truth denote eternal verities; duties; patriotism; good- 
ness; lead out to the infinite. Your ideals bring you to 
the heart of God. So follow your aspirations to their 
highest reach; rise to the supreme significance of your 
ideals, and you will discover that your happiness, and 
the happiness of ' your fellow-men, is " bound up in the 
bundle of life with the Lord our King." " Sell all thou 
hast and give to the poor " ; hold all that you have and 
are for the race to which you belong ; for eternal life is the 
life of duty, and rests upon the character of God and the 
capacity of man. 

Whatever may become of individual forms, the aim 



ODD FELLOWS 101 

and end of all achievement is the higher life of man. 
We conquer the world for each other ; and the more real 
and ideal our lives, the sooner will the world be won to 
that exalted truth of universal fatherhood and brother- 
hood of which the Lord was the most illustrious and 
shining example. 

State of the Order. — Coming to the practical work 
of our Order, let us see what, under the providence of 
God, we have this year been able to accomplish. The 
report for last year was the best for years. The report 
for this year is the greatest, both from a financial and 
numerical standpoint, of any year in the whole history 
of the Order. Upon this very, very flattering showing 
the Order is able to make, I congratulate you most 
heartily. 

Financial Showing. — Last year the net gain in assets 
was $4,087.24. This year the net gain is $17,486.17. Sta- 
tistics of the Order throughout the world from 1830 to 
Dec. 31, 1901 show: Total relief, $92,665,214.47; total 
revenue, $240,430,422.21. 

Relief in 1900 by lodges $ 3,408,695.52 

" encampments 265,802.46 

" Rebekah lodges 62,194.62 

Total relief in 1900 $ 3,736,692.60 

Relief in 1901 by lodges $ 3,609,359.17 

encampments 27^,126.2^ 

" Rebekah lodges 57,300.28 

Total relief in 1901 $ 3,939,785.68 

Revenues for 1900 were $10,160,945.47 

" J 90i " 10,825,948.55 



102 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

The condition of the Order Dec. 31, 1901, showed: 1 
Sovereign Grand Lodge; 6 quasi-independent Grand 
Lodges in Australasia, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, 
Sweden, and Switzerland; 66 Grand Lodges (in connec- 
tion with the Sovereign Grand Lodge) ; 55 Grand En- 
campments ; 12,792 subordinate Lodges ; and 2780 subor- 
dinate Encampments. 

These reported to the Sovereign Grand Lodge 1,602,- 
272 Lodge members, and 145,138 Encampment members. 

There were 5756 Rebekah Lodges, with 374,984 mem- 
bers, and 40 Rebekah Assemblies. 

The Patriarchs Militant had 525 Cantons, 16,504 offi- 
cers and chevaliers, and 23 Department Councils. 



THE THREE LINKS OF THE I. O. O. F. 
A Sermon *" 

BY REV. VIRGIL W. TEVES. 

First, Fellowship. — There is implanted in the human 
heart a desire for fellowship. Life is absolutely lonely 
without it. Joy is always multiplied by sharing it, and 
trouble is always lightened by dividing the burden. As 
the tear-drops in a child's eyes are hung with rainbows 
by kind words, 'so in the life of manhood, where larger 
feelings meet. No man has mourned for a hermit's life. 
Such a life is absolutely unnatural. Every one of us is 
absolutely a creature of society. There is to every man 
a solace in even the presence of a human being. In the 

* Delivered before the Sovereign Grand Lodge, I. O. O. F., at 

Meridian Street M. E. Church, Indianapolis, Ind., September 15, 
1901. 



ODD FELLOWS 103 

long hours of the watcher's night, when the clock ticks 
louder than ever before, and the wind sobs around the 
house in minor tones, and the dog howls, and the hectic 
flush is on the cheek of the sufferer whom we watch, 
there is the solitary step of a passer-by upon the side- 
walk. You know that man depends in large measure 
upon his neighbors. There is no such thing as an inde- 
pendent ship upon life's high seas. Every man looks 
ahead once in a while, for to-morrow's sunrise is tinted 
in the sunset colors of to-day. The very star that pins 
the curtains of the night together whispers of the coming 
morning, when these same curtains shall be drawn apart. 
Knowing that to-morrow will come just as surely as 
to-day is here, every man anxiously scans his horizon. 
In its shadowy outlines he reads very great possibilities 
in life. He knows that a time of trial is coming in his 
life when he will need human sympathy. Trials are a 
part of life's experiences. With a struggle we came into 
the world, and with a struggle we will go out of the world. 
Life is a battle absolutely from start to finish, and that 
man who succeeds more than his fellows is more of a 
general, knows better how to mass his forces. 

Human Sympathy. — In times of trial there is nothing 
quite like human sympathy that touches a brother's 
hand and has in it a magnetism that stirs the most tender 
chord of the human heart. Looking along the horizon, 
we know that maybe there is a coming time of financial 
perplexity in our lives. Riches take wings and fly away. 
There is not anything in the universe quite so un- 
stable. 

When want pinches we instinctively look about for 
a helper in time of trouble. Poverty is not a poem; 
poverty is a grim reality. Poverty is not a song. Very 
few friends you can count upon in a pinch. The friend- 



104 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

ships of the masses of men, after all, are based upon 
reciprocity, and that is true in the mother's case, and we 
use the mother as the very height of the simplicity of 
love. She looks down into the face of her sleeping babe, 
and fancy pictures a time in the future when her foot- 
steps falter and her form is bent and her eyes are dim 
and the frosts of winter have colored her hair, when she 
can lean upon that baby's arm, and he, in turn, will lead 
her in the decline of life. When a time comes when we 
are unable to reciprocate, friendships fly out of the win- 
dow, and hence, in the vigor of manhood, every man 
seeks to bind friends to him with chains that cannot be 
broken. He knows there is a time coming when he must 
fall asleep and forget to wake up, and his wife and chil- 
dren will be left to the untempered winds of the world, 
and this thought worries every devoted husband and 
father. He does not care for himself half so much as 
for those whom he loves, and hence he makes prepara- 
tions for this contingency. Even if he is poor, he strives, 
if possible, to carry life insurance. I want to say right 
here that a sound policy in a sound company is one of 
the most religious acts of a man's life, and I do not repre- 
sent any company, either. He knows that those whom 
he loves will be remembered by his Lodge, for it is one 
of the tenets of the institution to let brotherly love extend 
to a man and embrace his family when he is gone. 

For these reasons men organize, and among the organ- 
izations the Odd Fellows stand among the first. The 
Order is founded upon Friendship, Love, and Truth, a 
trinity of forces which makes a chain hard to break. 

True friendship always shines brighter in trouble, and 
this is its test. Trouble is to friendship what acid is to 
the gold. Are you aware of the fact that true friend- 
ships do much toward building up character? It is a 



ODD FELLOWS 105 

rare thing in the journey of life that a man climbs 
to a summit of fame without willing hands to help 
him up. 

A word from an acquaintance weighs an ounce, while 
a word from a friend weighs a ton. A true friend ad- 
vises and helps. He not only relieves human weakness, 
but he aids in removing it. And now this Order of ours 
aims to make better men. Ah, friends, there is a gran- 
deur in assisting in the moral elevation of the race. 

The Second Link. — You recall the familiar story of 
the sculptor whose touch seemed endowed with magic, 
and who, when a little girl marveled at the beauty of an 
angel he had wrought, and referred to it as having been 
carved by him, declared that the angel was already in the 
marble, and that he had only cut away the stone around 
it, allowing it to escape. 

Happy is that man in an organization who looks to 
men all around and discovers the angel of their nature, 
for every man has a better angel ; and happy that Order, 
no matter what it is, that cuts away the marble and lets 
the angel out of the man. It is the grandest work in all 
the world. 

You not only have the financial interest, but the entire 
interest of a brother at heart. You will not think me 
harsh if I say to-day that he is not a good Odd Fellow 
who looks to the financial benefits that accrue from the 
Order, and forgets the moral obligations that bind him 
to a brother. After all, money is the easiest thing to 
give. Many a man can give dollars toward the allevia- 
tion of human suffering who has not a word of kindness 
on his lips. After all, the most precious thing that was 
ever offered to humanity is human heart. 

And he is not worthy of the name of Odd Fellow who 
simply enters into it as an insurance organization. True 



106 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

men look to the moral obligations accruing from such an 
organization, rather than anything else. 

Love is embraced in friendship. Ah, what a power is 
love ! Love puts a new face upon this old world of ours. 
Do you know that to love the object is always beautiful? 
There comes down these aisles this morning an old, old 
woman. Her brow has been plowed by time for eighty 
years. Her hair is white, she leans upon the top of her 
staff, and with palsied hands waits to be shown a seat, 
and when she is there she sits with her ear-trumpet in her 
ear. There comes down this other aisle a maiden with 
the hues of health on her cheek, the sparkle of genius in 
her eye. Do you know, after all, if you were to ask me 
the handsomest one in the house, I would point to that 
old woman with the ear-trumpet and say : " She is the 
most beautiful being God Almighty ever made, for she is 
my mother !" She is not beautiful to you, but don't you 
know love puts rainbows in the eyes, and when love does 
that, the object of love is always beautiful? 

Ah, would you let me insist on it that in our com- 
munion with men we need more love ! What a rosy world 
this would be if love obtained! There would be no 
anarchism in it, there would be no assassin's bullet in it, 
there would be no weeping nation over the untimely tak- 
ing off of the Chief Magistrate. If love ruled in the 
world, the world would be heaven, for heaven is a place 
where love is the atmosphere. Love makes even a rough 
landscape sparkle. 

The Third Link. — But I want to dwell more exten- 
sively on that third link in the chain — Truth. Do you 
know it- is our business as charitable men and women to 
learn the truth ? We have got to learn the weaknesses of 
men to love them. Every man has his weakness. Every 
man has his element of strength. There never was a 



ODD FELLOWS 107 

perfect man that walked God's green earth but one — the 
man Jesus of Nazareth. And now it is our business to 
learn the truth about the weakness of men. That is 
charitable. We are most uncharitable, my friends, along 
the line of our excellences. If I ride the horse of hon- 
esty until the horse is jaded, I cannot tolerate dishonesty 
in a man. I would punish a child if he were dishonest. 
If I ride the hobby of virtue — and it is a magnificent 
horse to ride — I cannot tolerate any radical weakness 
along that line in any man. Here is a man who never 
drank a drop of whisky in his life. He does not know 
anything about the charms of intoxication. He says: 
" I cannot tolerate any man that touches it in any form." 
He is radically uncharitable, because he does not know 
anything about the weaknesses of other men in that 
direction. Ah, if he had ever fallen, if the slime had ever 
fallen on the floors of his house, that man would have a 
warm heart for the beggar within his touch, with blood- 
shot eyes and liquor-sodden breath. 

/ Men are weak. If we knew the environment and the 
X conditions surrounding a brother, our hearts would be 
strangely tender toward him. Harsh personal criticism 
never does any good. If you ever win a man on earth it 
will be by playing on the goodness in him, and not by 
harping on the evil within him. Those men who have 
been soul-winners, most successful in life, have been 
those who knew how to dig for gold and let it sparkle 
when they found it. 

Jesus said once : " How many loaves have you ? " 
And while they had a few loaves and small fishes, He 
took the remnant and made them into a feast. And the 
thing for a rational man to do is to say : " How many 
loaves have you ? " and take the good in human nature 
and let God multiply it into a sufficiency. 



108 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Here is a piano that has its key of G all right, but all 
the others are out of tune. Some day I start to play a 
piece of music, a charming thing, a carol of the skies 
that some man caught as it was flitting by and pinned it 
down on paper. So I sit down to that instrument, and I 
find that the key of G is not large enough, has not com- 
pass enough, to take in that magnificent piece, and there 
is a horrid discord when I strike the other keys. I do 
not wait fifteen minutes until I get that piano tuned. So 
a man tries to play a divine harmony on the harp of his 
nature, and that that is in tune in him is not big enough 
to circumscribe the beauty of the divine carol, and he 
wakes up to the fact that he is all out of tune, and he goes 
to the Divine Master of the universe, who refits him and 
refills him and gets him in absolute harmony. Is that 
not true? But he would never have wakened up to the 
fact that he was out of tune if he had not had a key in 
him that was in tune. 

We are to learn the truth about the grandeur of man 
on the other side. There is something grand even in the 
wreck of a man. Oh, I thank God, my brothers, that no 
man ever gets so low in the journey of life, so prostitutes 
his manhood, that all the fires go out, that all the stars 
forget to shine. Just like that there is something grand 
in the ruins of an old ship that lies out there on the beach. 
She has made many a voyage, she has landed many a 
passenger, she has been a mighty Argosy, that, like a 
bird, spread her wings and flew from shore to shore and 
from land to land. We ought to get wonderfully char- 
itable with man, when we remember the weakness in him 
and the wonderful grandeur. But I think the most 
serious thought that ever comes to the human race is 
man's responsibility to God. A man asked Daniel Web- 
ster one time what was the most serious thought that 



ODD FELLOWS 109 

ever occupied his mind. This was his answer : " My 
personal responsibility to God." And it is our business 
as Odd Fellows to learn the truth about God and the 
great hereafter. 

Are you aware that a man is only great as he appro- 
priates what God has provided for him? A butterfly 
came into my study one day and bathed its wings i$ the 
sunshine, and then lighted on the Word of God on my 
desk, spread its wings, fluttered a while, walked across 
the page, and then flew out of the window forever. And 
the thought struck me that I am greater than that but- 
terfly. A world of wisdom was under its feet, a world 
of revelation was beneath it, and it did not see it; but I 
do understand it, I do appropriate it to myself. That 
brilliant flower is brilliant, simply because it appropri- 
ates to itself the brilliant colors that are around it. That 
bird sings sweeter than that other bird on the top of the 
tree, simply because it appropriates the music ; and he is 
greatest in the journey of life who appropriates to him- 
self what God Almighty has provided for us. We are 
to learn to love Him and serve Him, and we are to learn 
one more lesson, and that is the lesson of help. 

I should be strangely derelict in my duty if I did not 
tell you that vast message — the overwhelming majority 
of men in the higher walks of life are godly men. You 
run along the lives of men who have filled the Executive 
chair of the nation. See how they lived; see how they 
died ! Men have got to learn to appropriate God's help, 
and what a helper He is! 

There was a venerable painter whose genius had such 
a powerful^ hold upon him that he could not lay aside his 
palette and brushes even in his declining years. The 
aged 'man would work the livelong day upon a picture, 
and in the evening would gaze upon it; p,nd with a sigh 



no THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

declare that his Cunning was deserting him. His son, a 
brilliant young artist, would kindly tell the aged man to 
retire to rest, and that in the morning when his sight was 
clearer maybe the picture would take on a better appear- 
ance. In the night time the son would work upon the 
painting until he made it reflect the handiwork of genius, 
and the next morning the old painter would take on fresh 
hope from what he believed to be his own work. Do you 
know that is just the way the great God helps man? I 
paint my picture with trembling hand, and when I sleep 
God brings out the high lights and beauty of it; and if 
any man has ever made a masterpiece in life, it is the 
Heavenly Father's teaching that has made it that way. 
Oh, I would impress on you the beauty of that, how the 
Father doeth! Let us remember the great hereafter, 
throbbing with its deathless issues. Let us be men in 
that particular. 

Friends, there is nothing that endears us to our fellow- 
men like the practice of the virtues of Friendship, Love, 
and Truth ; and that great man, William McKinley, who 
so sweetly sleeps to-day after the severe trials of the past 
few years, won his way to the hearts of his countrymen 
by his unaffected affection and loyalty to his fellow-man 
as he never could have won it in any other way. While 
his statesmanship was of the finest quality, and his mental 
poise one of rare greatness, and these will of themselves 
embalm him forever in the hearts of his countrymen, his 
unaffected simplicity, his genuine manhood, based upon 
love and truth, play upon the heart-strings with master 
hand, and cause strange and tender chords to sound 
which other virtues could not, in the nature of things, 
awaken. 

Mr. McKinley found, as we shall all find, that the lesson 
I have preached yt>u this morning, if carried out in life, 



ODDFELLOWS m 

will make a death-bed a place of coronation. With his 
will bowing sweetly to the will of God, whom he loved 
and who is Himself the essence of love, what more nat- 
ural than that he should, like a weary child, desire to be 
enfolded in his Father's arms, where is security and 
peace forever more ? No wonder he tried to sing, f alter- 
ingly, " Nearer, My God, to Thee." So shall our last 
song be of that Father whom we best learn when we learn 
the truth ; 'and so shall we be enfolded in His arms, and 
experience that thrill of ecstasy which means heaven to 
a weary soul. 

Grandly all these years has this old Order pursued her 
way. The blessings of hundreds of widows and orphans 
have been heaped upon her. " If every blessing were a 
flower, she would be hidden from sight beneath a wilder- 
ness of blossoms." — (Ingersoll.) Her cheeks are ruddy 
with the hues of health, her eyes are limpid with love, and 
her stalwart form cheerfully bears the burden she so 
cheerfully assumes. 

May you be Odd Fellows indeed! Odd to those who 
are sinful and worldly, odd to the stingy and mean, odd 
to all that is depraved and unholy and material, but thor- 
oughly in harmony with God and with your brethren 
dwelling in tents down here and in the palace of the King 
hereafter. 



H2 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

THE SUPREMACY OF LOVE 
A Sermon * 

BY REV. H. O. BREEDER D. D. 
" The greatest of these is Love." — I Cor. xiii. 13. 

The ultimate analysis of Christianity, its peculiar 
crown and discriminating royalty, is explained in a single 
word — Love. Love is not only the master passion in 
man, to which all other passions do homage, it is the mas- 
ter passion of God ; it is also the master principle of the 
universe. Nations, peoples, systems are all distinguished 
by some predominating spirit. The genius of England 
is practical, that of Germany is speculative, that of France 
is sensational, that of Italy is aesthetic, that of India is 
idealistic, while that of America is cosmopolitan. So of 
religions : they are separate from each other by some 
marked distinguishing features. Thus the genius of 
Judaism is ceremonial, that of Hindooism is mystical, 
that of Mohammedanism is fanatical, and that of Chris- 
tianity is expressed by " Love." 

Romance and poetry through all past ages have never 
wearied in picturing the sorrows, and joys or in singing 
the glories and triumphs of Love. Its tragedies, its suf- 
ferings, and its victories represent all that is greatest in 
history and most thrilling in literature. But in Chris- 
tian literature Love is regnant, the most beneficent influ- 
ence and the mightiest force in the world. And in Chris- 
tianity only is it enthroned and sceptered as monarch 

* Preached to the Sovereign Grand Lodge, I. O. O. R, at the 
Central Christian Church, Des Moines, Iowa, September 14, 1902. 



ODD FELLOWS 1 13 

ruling by divine right. It is the pearl of great price ; the 
jewel of priceless worth. 

The jewel of society is " pleasure," and the casket 
which holds it is " good form." The jewel of business 
is " gold," and its casket is " commerce." The jewel of 
science is " wisdom," and " mind " is its casket, but the 
supreme jewel of fraternity and Christianity is " Love," 
and its casket is the " heart." In the Bible heart is a 
word that abounds. Brain, I believe, is not mentionel in 
Scripture, but as the world goes, " brain counts for a good 
deal more than heart does." It will win more applause 
and earn a larger salary. The current demand is for 
ideas. But, as the present prophet of Plymouth pulpit 
has strongly said, " the throne of the universe is mercy, 
and not marble; the name of the world-ruler is Great- 
Heart, rather than Crystalline Mind, and God is the 
Eternal Friend who pulsates out through His world those 
forms of love called reforms, philanthropies, social boun- 
ties, and benefactions, even as the ocean pulsates its life- 
giving tides into every bay and creek and river." The 
same author has observed that, " The men whose duty it 
was to follow the line of battle and bury our dead sol- 
diers, tell us that in the dying hour the soldier's hand 
unclasped his weapon and reached for the inner pocket 
to touch some faded letter, some little keepsake, some 
likeness of wife or mother. This pathetic fact tells us 
that soldiers have won their battles not by holding before 
their minds some abstract thought about the rights of 
man. The philosopher did indeed teach the theory, and 
the general marked out the line of attack and defense, but 
it was love of home and God and native land that entered 
into the soldier and made his aim invincible. Back of the 
Emancipation Proclamation stands a great heart named 
Lincoln; back of Africa's new life stands a, great heart 



114 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

named Livingstone; back of the Sermon on the Mount 
stands earth's greatest heart — man's Saviour. Christ's 
truth is enlightening man's ignorance, but His tears, fall- 
ing upon our earth, are washing away man's sin and 
woe." A cold and unfeeling judgment, a crude, half- 
barbaric and wholly selfish commercialism may place a 
premium upon keenness of intellect and shrewdness of 
mind in a materialistic age, but the conclusion of all his- 
tory supports the high vision of Bourdillon in the 
sweetest sonnet ever written : 

" The night hath a thousand eyes, 
The day but one, 
But the light of the whole world dies 

When the sun is gone. 
The mind hath a thousand eyes, 

The heart but one, 
Yet the light of the whole life dies 
When love is done." 

One of the brightest flower-clusters of Holy Writ is 
the chapter from which our text is taken. It is the 
Swan-song of the great Apostle. This golden chapter 
contains Paul's estimate of the worth of love. In the 
first three verses he gives a statement of its value by a 
most " striking contrast which seems an exaggeration." 
Four things were held in supreme favor in the Christian 
Church. First, the gift of tongues. Paul himself had 
heard, in heavenly rapture, angelic language impossible 
for him to re-utter, but he places love in contrast with 
that, saying : " Though I speak with the tongues of men 
and of angels and have not love, I am become as sound- 
ing brass and tinkling cymbal." Gifted w T ith eloquence 
which melts into muteness even angelic harps and lyres, 
my utterances are but the soulless clanging of cymbal, if 
" this heavenly virtue makes not musical and fragrant 



ODD FELLOWS H5 

all I say." To the Greeks knowledge was the supreme 
possession: — valued above jewels. But there were exalted 
souls in this Corinthian church divinely favored with 
that deeper insight which comes of inspiration. Both 
are placed in contrast with love when he says : " And 
though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all 
mysteries and all knowledge and have not love, I am 
nothing." " The sage and prophet are nothing, without 
love." Again, the power to work wonders, a mark of 
peculiar favor, had been bestowed upon some. "Through 
faith some had stopped the mouths of lions, turned to 
flight the armies of the aliens, out of weakness were made 
strong." But he who has the consummate might of this 
supreme power is nothing without love. " Though I 
have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have 
not love, it profiteth me nothing." Finally, the Apostle 
arrays in imagination the glorious army of heroes and 
martyrs of self-sacrifice, and the benefactors and philan- 
thropists of that early church, whose liberality was so 
lavish that it seems an insanity to the world, and he puts 
all this in contrast with love : " Though I bestow all my 
goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be 
burned, and have not love, I am nothing." Behold the 
character portrayed in these sublime sentences — this glo- 
rious composite! An orator, a sage, a giant, a philan- 
thropist in one man, more silver-tongued than Cicero, 
wiser than Solomon, stronger through faith than the 
fabled Atlas and Hercules, more liberal than the immor- 
tal widow who cast all her living into the treasury. Yet 
in this character, containing elements so wondrously 
mixed, love is absent, and Paul writes of it : " It is 
nothing." 

For the justice and validity of this judgment three 
irrefragable reasons are assigned. 



n6 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

First, he resolves love into its constituent elements. 
Or, as Drummond has so happily stated it, he " gives an 
amazing analysis of what this supreme thing is. It is 
like light. As you have seen a man of science take a 
beam of light and pass it through a crystal prism ; as 
you have seen it come out on the other side of the prism 
all broken up into its component colors — red, and blue, 
and yellow, and violet, and orange, and all the colors of 
the rainbow — so Paul passes this thing, Love, through 
the magnificent prism of his inspired intellect, and it 
comes out on the other side broken into its elements. And 
in these few words we have what might be called the 
spectrum of Love." 

The spectrum takes the beam of that light, which no 
one can really define, and throws it into seven hues. But 
the spectrum of Love has nine ingredients. They are 
patience, kindness, generosity, humility, courtesy, unsel- 
fishness, good temper, guilelessness, sincerity — these 
make up the supreme gift. 

These great qualities indicate the effect of love upon 
character and conduct. The Apostle, by a few master 
strokes, describes love in the concrete. He presents a 
character in which love is the regnant principle, the dom- 
inating passion. 

" Love suffereth long." Love is patient, calm, passive. 
It is equal to any strain. It " understands and therefore 
waits." 

" Love is kind." Kindness is love made visible, turned 
inside out. It speaks only gentle, tender, helpful words 
and deeds to weary pilgrims along life's rugged pathway. 
It is the spirit of the old philosopher who said : " I shall 
not pass this way but once. Any good thing, therefore, 
that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any 
human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or 



ODDFELLOWS 117 

neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." Better 
still, it is the sublime thought of " Him who went about 
doing good." 

" Love envieth not." It hath no hateful, jealous feel- 
ing for one who may be doing the same work you are 
doing, but better. Love is generous. 

" Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up." It is 
humble. It is careful to " think no more highly of itself 
than it ought to think." It rejoices in lowliest tasks. 

" Love does not behave itself unseemly." This is love 
in relation to etiquette. It furnishes and finishes the true 
gentleman. It communicates grace and dignity to char- 
acter and winsomeness to the life. 

" Love seeketh not her own." Self-denials are pleas- 
ures for the sake of others. It can renounce all things — 
yea, give up life itself, and yet rejoice in its sacrifices. 
It makes hard tasks easy and bitter things sweet. 

" Love is not easily provoked." Its temper is always 
sweet. It brings with it the angels of content, peace, 
and delight. 

" Love thinketh no evil." It is pure, and can think 
purity only. But it thinks. Love is ever thoughtful, 
ever inspired. What a man thinks is determined largely 
by his ruling love. Those who are pure in thought and 
life will not, because they cannot, think evil of others. 
Love is guileless. "Love rejoiceth not in iniquity, but 
rejoiceth in the truth." Love, too, warms and inspires. 
Truth instructs and directs. Truth rejoices in the 
quickening influences of love, while love rejoices in the 
illuminating power of truth. Love is always sincere. 
It sees truth in a new light such as " never fell on land 
or sea," and it rejoiceth in it evermore. How love 
quickens human wits ! How it strengthens human weak- 
ness ! What burdens it has enabled drooping shoulders to 



n8 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

carry ! What toils it has enabled human hands to accom- 
plish ! What prodigies weak women and tender children 
have performed while they were nerved and braced 
and upheld by the animating inspirations of love ! What 
power doth it possess to transform the life ! How it ele- 
vates and sublimates the soul ! 

Is the story of St. Frodebert a legend? Is it not the 
very acme of glorious reality? 

" He bent his mother's face above, 

And kissed her eyes that saw no light: 
Lo ! such the fervor of his love, 
It brought those orbs, long darkened, sight. 

" Ye who would teach the truth to men, 
Would make their sightless souls to see, 
Who with mere learnings, voice and pen, 
Have labored long, yet fruitlessly, 

" Herein discern the secret sought, 

The secret of man's power to bless; 
Love with a potency is fraught, 
Nor love nor magic doth possess." 

Paul's second reason is that love is a mark of man- 
hood in Christ. Growth toward love, and into love, had 
been the law of his own life. " When I was a child I 
spake as a child, I thought as a child, I understood as a 
[child; but when I became a man I put away childish 
things." Love, indeed, is the great end towards which 
all creation is tending. The discovery of that thought 
has been of inconceivable comfort to me, for I have seen 
the human race, beginning in the lowest state of animal- 
ism, grasping, cruel — the shark, the leopard, and the lion 
regnant, as though destructiveness w T as the original crea- 
tive design. Out of it I have seen emerging, little by little, 
other qualities — love of cubs and whelps, then I have 



ODDFELLOWS 1 19 

seen the animal creation reach to the level of the human 
family, and that family, under some mystic influence 
which we cannot call nature, for it seems to contradict 
nature at every step, steadily unfolding toward intelli- 
gence, toward refinement, toward imagination, toward 
sympathy, toward love, and in love evermore, sphere by 
sphere. The law of unfolding sets the whole creation 
upon a march from the lower form of organized matter 
up through every variation of organization, through 
every form of passion, seeking the highest, holiest thing 
in the universe — the star around which the whole creation 
is revolving. The name of that star is Love. 

Disinterested love is the goal of human progress. A 
suggestion of disinterested love may be found in the 
lower animals — the dog, for instance. It is a sadness to 
me, that that noble animal had nothing but curses in 
antiquity. In modern times where will you find more 
fidelity, more disinterestedness and love, following the 
heels of abuse? Wronged, beaten in every way, yet the 
faithful dog will lay down his life for the abusing master. 
But the circuit of a dog's love is very small. A mother's 
love has the limitless horizon — all the stars of heaven 
shining down upon it. Human love never comes so near 
to the divine as when a royal woman pours out the full 
flood of her thought and fancy and love on the little un- 
heeding and to her as yet useless child. The stars have 
nothing so bright, and the heavens scarcely anything 
more pure and more holy, than the heavenly love-service 
of a mother to her little, helpless, and unfashioned child. 
That was almost an inspired utterance of the immortal 
Beecher : " The mother serving that little impotence, that 
little possibility of the future, asks no other reward than 
the joy of service. It wins her by the whole strength of 
her nature from pleasure, from honor, from society, from 



120 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

rest, from the glory of the earth outwardly, from all that 
has been treasured by the accumulated wisdom and re- 
finement of the ages. They are nothing to her. The sum 
total of all human experience, if it could be put together 
in some shining bauble, would seem to her as darkness, 
compared with the luminous joy with which she serves 
the young immortal, her king, her priest, her God. 

" Now imagine a state of society in which this dis- 
position was diffused toward all men. That is the com- 
mand of Christ; that is the ideal kingdom. It is a long 
road to it, but we are on the way. The time is coming 
when the same love that the mother pours so abundantly, 
with all the grandeur of heavenly disposition, on the 
cradle, will be diffused the world over," so that man shall 
regard man everywhere with disinterested love and 
fidelity. ■ 

I am reminded that we are meeting to-day upon the 
anniversary of the death of William McKinley, the 
beloved. In him the sun of unselfish and disinterested 
love rose toward the throne of God. His greatness was 
not in his statesmanship, high though it was; nor in his 
official career, noble as it was ; nor in his soldierly quali- 
ties, splendid as they were; but in his pure life and 
great heart of love. His daily prayer was not for fame, 
nor wealth, nor preferment, but for love, the greatest pos- 
session. His was pre-eminently the prayer of the poet: 

" At first I prayed for light : could I but see the way 
How gladly would I walk to everlasting day. 
I asked the world's deep law before my eyes to ope, 
And let me see my prayer fulfilled and realize my hope. 
But God was kinder than my prayer, 
And darkness veiled me everywhere. 

"And next I asked for strength, that I might tread the road 
With firm, unfaltering pace to heaven's serene abode; 



ODD FELLOWS 12 1 

That I might never know a faltering, failing heart, 
But manfully go on and reach the highest part. 
But God was kinder than my prayer, 
And weakness checked me everywhere. 

"And then I asked for faith; could I not trust my God, 
I'd live in heavenly peace, though foes were all abroad. 
His light thus shining round, no faltering should I know, 
And faith in heaven above would make a heaven below. 
But God was kinder than my prayer, 
And doubts beset me everywhere. 

"And now I pray for love, deep love to God and man, 
A love that will not fail, however dark Lis plan; 
That sees all life in Him — rejoicing in His power, 
And, faithful, though the darkest clouds may lower. 
And God is kinder than my prayer; 
Love fills and blesses everywhere." 

But Paul's chief reason for extolling love as the great 
passion of life is that " love never dies." To emphasize 
his great thought the Apostle enumerates these great 
things in the catalogue of imperishables in the estimation 
of his day. The greatest thinkers of his age believed 
that prophecies would endure whatever else might fail. 
" But," said he, " whether there be prophecies, they shall 
fail." This book is full of prophecies. One by one they 
have been fulfilled, and so failed — their work is finished. 
" Whether there be tongues, they shall cease." The 
Hebrew tongue in which he spoke has passed away. 
The Greek tongue, so mellifluous and facile, is spoken 
by the few only, and is passing away. The Latin is 
obsolete. The Indian language perished long ago. 

" And whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish 
away." What has become of the wisdom of the ancient 
Egyptians, the knowledge of the old Greeks? It has all 
vanished away. " Now we know in part." " We see 



122 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

through a glass darkly/' All that we see of commerce 
and government and institutions is passing away. " The 
fashion of this world passeth away/' 

But there is nothing stable and permanent? Nothing 
that will endure amid the war of elements, the wreck 
of matter and the crash of worlds? What is it, pray? 
Art, with its glorious triumphs and gorgeous creations, is 
evanescent. The sculptor may see in the rough, unhewn 
marble the vision of an angel. With patient toil and rare 
genius he may disclose its radiant beauty. The pro- 
cession of the centuries may admire and wonder. But 
the tool of time will touch it, and destroy its symmetry 
and disfigure its loveliness. The Minerva of Phidias has 
perished ; the David of Angelo is crumbling. The 
painter may materialize his exalted ideals of nature or his 
sublime conceptions of human or divine events ; in the 
galleries of earth his pictures may hang for ages to 
inspire awe and pleasure ; but canvas and colors will 
dissolve. The Last Supper of Da Vinci is dim, and the 
Transfiguration of Raphael is fading. Soon, very soon, 
they will be numbered with the things of yesterday. 

The great cities of earth, built of granite and marble, 
arenas of activity and swiftly flowing tides of life, will 
crumble to ruin and molder in dust away. Chicago and 
New York and London will be one with Tyre and 
Memphis and Babylon, for the cities of the world pass 
away. 

But even as art and science and cities decay and pass 
away, Love grows stronger and brighter. Even when 
the moon is old and the sun is cold and the leaves of 
the judgment book unfold, love will be in the very 
morning of her eternity. Love is to walk the gold-paved 
streets of the New Jerusalem under the cloudless canopy 
of stormless skies, attuned to the music of angels' harps, 



ODD FELLOWS 1 23 

and illumined by the glories of the Redeemer's face. 
Love survives by might supernal and by right eternal, 
for " God is love." 

I felicitate myself that I am speaking to-day to 
representatives of a great fraternal order, whose benefi- 
cent sway is world-wide, about to hold its highest 
tribunal in this fair city, which is bound together by a 
golden chain with three jeweled links — Friendship, Love, 
and Truth. What a glorious trinity of principles ! I am 
sure that it is not by accident that you place Love at 
the center of the motto. Securely there it holds friends 
together in truth. It would refuse to hold friends 
together in falsehood. The temper of every link in your 
charmed chain is practical. It will stand the test of 
use. Yours is not ideal only, but embodied friendship; 
not visionary, but real truth ; not abstract, but incarnate 
love — love that transforms sorrow into joy, pain into 
pleasure, loss into gain. Yours is a love that makes a 
paradise of a wilderness, and a feast in the house of 
poverty. Its highest delight is in giving pleasure to those 
beloved. During the last seventy years it relieved 
250,000 widows by an expenditure of over $91,000,000. 
It realizes most gloriously the sublime stanza of Schiller : 

" Have love — not love alone for one, 
But man as man thy brother call, 
And scatter like the circling sun, 
Thy chanties on all." 

May each new day, fraught with deeds of love like 
those which passed between David and Jonathan, knitting 
their souls together in a true friendship, beam upon your 
glorious Order, as upon the pathway of the just, which 
" shineth more and more unto the perfect day." 



124 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

ODD FELLOWSHIP EXEMPLIFIED IN 
"JESUS ONLY" 

A Sermon * 

BY REV. FORREST J. PRETTYMAN. 
Matthew xvii. 8, " Jesus only." 

My message is that Odd Fellowship is alone exempli- 
fied in its beauty, power, and meaning in " Jesus only." 

This organization was formed by five men in the city 
of Baltimore in 1819, and its progress from that date 
has been a great development as a power for good in 
the world. Its essentially ethical teachings are set forth 
in the words Friendship, Love, and Truth, and are most 
fully exemplified in the life of the man Christ Jesus. 

In a real and supreme sense Jesus was odd, not in 
eccentricity, but in perfection and character. What you 
seek as an Order is to emphasize individuality, and there 
is no greater need to-day than this. In the shops, as 
members of organized labor, men are apt to become 
merely parts of the great machinery of life. The touch 
of Jesus brings out the personality and perfects the 
individual manhood. Matthew was but a part of the 
great machinery of Rome for collecting taxes, but the 
call of Jesus made him a distinct personality in the world 
of letters. Saul of Tarsus could be spoken of as a 
certain young man who stood by the clothes of those 
who stoned Stephen to death, but Paul, the apostle of 
Christ, stands out clear and distinct, towering far above 
all of his Jewish contemporaries. 

* Delivered at the 84th anniversary of the birth of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, at the Mt. Vernon Place M. E. 
Church, Washington, D. C, May, 1903. 



ODD FELLOWS 125 



FRIENDSHIP, LOVE, TRUTH, 

In seeking this individuality you have made an analysis 
of the social order, and you have expressed it in that 
beautiful ascending scale of relationships which is indi- 
cated by the words friendship, love, truth. 

Each of these is exemplified in the life of Jesus. 
Friendship, which is the name of the first degree of Odd 
Fellowship, is illustrated in the relation of Jonathan and 
David, but this relationship only foreshadowed that 
friendship of Jesus, who said : 

" Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant 
knoweth not what his Lord doeth, but I have called you 
friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father I 
have made known unto you/' Thus, Jesus manifested 
His friendship by committing to His disciples the secret 
counsels of the divine mind. 

Love is that principle which leads one moral being to 
desire and delight in another, and reaches its highest 
form in that personal fellowship in which each lives in 
the life of the other. This element of the social order is 
also embodied only in Jesus. His love expressed itself 
in the gift of His life to His followers. Love in its 
highest sense is only realized when we can say with Paul, 
" To me to live is Christ/' 

But whence comes this third and highest degree, truth ? 
Pilate, standing amid the wreck of systems, the highest 
product of the human intellect, asks with scorn, " What 
is truth ?" It is natural that he should have thought of 
it as beyond all human achievement. It is the final 
adjustment of relationship. In its last analysis it is 
% righteousness. So you have found its spring and source 
in the Aaronic sacrifice. I declare to you its end. It is 



126 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

found only in the unity of the thought and life of Jesus. 
He is the truth. 

Friendship with Jesus, ripening into that love which 
is oneness of life with Him, adjusts all relationships, 
both human and divine, in that divine order which is 
truth. Selected, 



ODD FELLOW AND MASONRY* 

BY PAST GRAND SIRE JOHN H. WHITE 

It is sometimes said that Odd Fellowship is the off- 
spring of Masonry, but this is in no sense true, and the 
writer of this knows whereof he speaks. While oc- 
casionally a similarity of expression can be traced in 
a few of the unimportant parts of the ceremonials, in 
the fundamentals they are essentially different. Masonry 
is a noble institution, but is as unlike Odd Fellowship as 
two institutions organized by human beings can well be. 
The one is theoretical, the other practical ; the one is 
ancient, the other modern; the government of one is 
autocratic, the other democratic; the one deals out 
charity and assists its needy members, but only to a 
limited extent and only as a charity; the other assists its 
members, not only from charity, but because it is their 
due, and their assistance is afforded in large measure. 
American Odd Fellowship is composed of the middle and 
industrial classes almost exclusively; Masonry of all 
grades of society, from the titled and wealthy of this and 
foreign lands to the humblest laborer in our midst. 

In England, when Odd Fellowship arose, we are told 

* From Hagen's " Odd-Fellowship, Its History and Manual." 



ODD FELLOWS 127 

that Masonry was composed almost exclusively of the 
titled and the proud, and not of the mechanics and work- 
ing men, who organized the more modern institution. 
Masonry has been long in achieving its present standing. 
Odd Fellowship in less than two centuries has out- 
stripped it in numbers and importance, and is to-day 
the grandest fraternal organization of the world. The 
two great orders of Odd Fellows, the Manchester Unity 
and the American Order, from actual returns, number 
1,164,000 adult males, scattered throughout the habitable 
globe. Masonry, according to partial returns, and from 
estimates from all jurisdictions, numbers among its 
devotees throughout the world 1,082,992 persons, or 
81,898 less (1895) than the two branches of Odd Fellows 
above mentioned. How nearly correct these estimates 
may be is, of course, much a matter of speculation, as 
there are no returns accessible ; for, unlike Odd Fellow- 
ship, it has no grand central head to which its various 
grand bodies hold allegiance, and to which they send 
annual reports. 



FRATERNITY 

There is a tie that binds us, man to man, as surely 
as a force holds earth to sun and sun to stars ; our senses 
may be dull and we as little comprehend the law of 
brotherhood as did the men of pre-Newtonic days the 
law of gravity, and yet throughout the earth in every 
human heart is felt a force that we have learned to call 
fraternity. 

A man, by many years of constant, honest toil, estab- 
lishes a business, broad, which vouchsafes to him a 
livelihood through life's declining years. But far beyond 



128 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

aught that vigilance could foresee, have arisen business 
troubles in which he had no hand, and that dread enemy 
of success, bankruptcy, stares him in the face. Then 
certain friends in whose hearts dwell sympathy proffer 
a loan, nor ask security beyond a pledge of honor that 
all shall be repaid. The business is secured, the old man 
saved. No Shylock has been there, the only bond is 
one inscribed fraternity. 

A young man far from home is seized by sickness, and 
on feverish wings reason flies and leaves him helpless as 
an infant. By stranger hands he is carried to an inn ; 
by strangers nursed through many a weary night, until 
disease is conquered, and at last, weak but rational, he 
recognizes those whose ministries have saved him from 
the grave. He speaks, and the first word framed by 
his faltering lips is fraternity. 

In what was yesterday a happy home, the children's 
noisy prattle has been hushed, and tender wife, with 
tear-stained cheeks and anxious eyes,- watches by his side, 
whose life, cut short by accident, will leave her all alone 
to battle with the world. Yet not alone, for by the bed- 
side stands a group of men whose hearts are kind and 
true. The dying man whose love-lit eyes, full of deep 
meaning, looks first to them and then at his loved ones ; 
his pale lips part as with a smile, and his last breath 
whispers faintly the word fraternity. 

Odd Fellows' Review. 



MEMBERS THAT READ 

What all secret benevolent orders need are members 
who will read and study all that appertains to the Order 
they are connected with. It is not enough to read the 



ODD FELLOWS 129 

ritual, constitution, and by-laws, but you should read 
whatever books you can obtain that treat of it. Almost 
every Order of any prominence has a journal devoted to 
its advancement. The price of these papers is within the 
reach of every member. If the member will subscribe 
to one or more of these papers, and then read them, he 
will find he is much better posted in what is transpiring 
than he was before. Your subscribing to a paper and 
not reading it will do you no good. It is the same as 
if you bought food and did not eat it — your hunger would 
not be satisfied. If you are interested in advancing the 
precepts of the Order, you should also be interested in 
knowing what progress it is making. The only way to 
accomplish this is by reading papers and books that will 
give you the desired information. If anything of interest 
to the Order has come under your observation, send an 
account of it to your paper. 

In other words, place yourself in a position to be able 
to answer a friend's questions, should he ask you some- 
thing of the Order. 

Odd Fellows' Register. 



KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS 

Historical. — This is one of the most successful and wide- 
spread fraternal societies in America, and its name and ritual 
are suggested by the old story of the friendship of Damon and 
Pythias, but it makes no attempt to trace connection with those 
famous Greeks, or to disguise the fact that it is of recent organ- 
ization, and its ritual no hoary growth, but the bright production 
of one very gifted man. Mr. Justus H. Rathbone in 1860-61 
was living at Eagle Harbor, Lake Superior, Michigan, and there 
beguiled the tedium of a northern winter by writing out a ritual 
of a fraternal society. In 1864 he was a government employee in 
Washington. He had joined the Masons, but felt the need of 
something more, and, inviting half a dozen friends to his house, 
one of them also a Mason, and all active members of a musical 
society, he read to them the ritual written in 1861. His friends 
agreed with him to form themselves into the proposed Order. 
Their action was perfected in a larger meeting at Temperance 
Hall, Washington, which formally decided to form the new order, 
and adopted the ritual privately adopted four days before. The 
object of the society was decided to be friendship, benevolence, 
and charity, and an obligation of secrecy was imposed. 

A few weeks later a Grand Lodge for the District of Columbia 
was organized, and the work of organizing subordinate Lodges 
was begun. Growth at first was not rapid, and some lodges had 
but a brief life. At a convention in Washington in 1868 a new 
constitution was adopted, and new Grand Lodges and a Supreme 
Lodge of the World was formed, and presently the idea of 
knightly brotherhood carried the new Order over the land and 
into foreign countries. 

There are 5,000 members in foreign Lodges owning the control 
of the Supreme Lodge in the United States. 

The Knights of Pythias confer three ranks or degrees, and 
there are other resemblances to the older chivalric orders. The 
degrees are Page, the Armorial Rank of Esquire, and the 
Chivalric Rank of Knight, the regalias being respectively marked 
with blue, yellow, and red. The uniform is somewhat like that 
of the Knights Templars. 

An Endowment Rank was established, after considerable dis- 
cussion, in 1877. Neither the Endowment nor Uniform Ranks 
are reckoned as " higher degrees," but they are adopted merely 
to carry out successfully the objects of the Order. 

The Uniform Rank is under the control of the Grand Lodge, 
and is granted by ballot to those only who are approved and 

131 



I3 2 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

have reached the grade of Knight. It makes an attractive dis- 
play in parades and on other public occasions, and is said to add 
much to the ceremonial of initiation. 

The Order has grown to a membership of over 450,000 in the 
United States and Canada. Of these over 45,000, or one-tenth, 
are partakers of the Endowment Rank, which in its first ten years' 
paid for death benefits about $2,000,000. The insurance which 
it holds in force is nearly $90,000,000. 

The Pythian motto is, " Be Generous, Brave, and True." Dur- 
ing its later career the order has paid in ten years about 
$10,000,000 in death benefits. 

There are two organizations of wives, daughters, sisters, and 
mothers of Knights of Pythias — the Rathbone Sisters and the 
Pythian Sisterhood. These have not been formally recognized 
by the Supreme Lodge, but the sisterhoods are established with 
the practical approval of the order. The Rathbone Sisters 
admit Knights of Pythias to membership with them, but the 
Pythian Sisterhood prefer to remain a society for women only. 

In 1894 some active members of the Order formed the 
Dramatic Order of Knights of Khorassan. Only Knights of 
Pythias are eligible to its membership, and its purpose is to pre- 
pare illuminated pageants and fantastically costumed proces- 
sions between sessions of the Supreme Lodge. There were thirty 
Temples of Knights of Khorassan represented at a recent meeting 
at Cleveland, with a membership of 9000. 

At the session of the Supreme Lodge at Richmond, Va., in 
1869, application was made for a charter for a lodge of negro 
Knights of Pythias. The Supreme Lodge refused the applica- 
tion, but a number of negroes were initiated into the mysteries 
of the Order, receiving the degrees of Page, Esquire, and Knight, 
the initiation being carried out by white men whose own mem- 
bership was perfectly regular. 

The negro branch has no recognition from the regular Order, 
but has over 40,000 members scattered through thirty-one States 
and Territories and the District of Columbia, as well as Lodges 
in several West India Islands and in Central America. They 
distribute annually for the relief of sick and distressed members 
about $60,000. They have also an auxiliary society for women 
relatives of members of the Order. 

The negro Order is distinguished by the name Knights of 
Pythias of North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. 



KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS 133 

BIENNIAL ADDRESS * 

BY JOHN" VAN VALKENBURG. 

It is the duty of your chief executive officer to submit 
at each recurring biennial session a synopsis of his 
official acts during his term. 

On the very threshold of this statement I desire to again 
return to you my sincere and heartfelt thanks for your 
kindness and partiality in conferring the high honor upon 
me of an election to the Supreme Chancellorship at the 
New Orleans session (1884) of the Supreme Lodge, and 
to express my profound gratitude to the Pythian Knights 
of the land for the uniformly courteous and chivalric 
treatment accorded to me since such election. 

It seems eminently meet and proper, in view of our 
wondrous growth and prosperity since our foundation as 
an order, that we should acknowledge in fitting terms the 
guidance and protecting care of a kind and well-ruling 
Providence in all our days of clouds and sunshine, of 
adversity and prosperity, of defeats and triumphs, until 
we have become a fixed and permanent factor in the great 
Republic of Humanity, and that a continuance of heavenly 
favor to our beloved Order should be prayerfully in- 
voked by every Knight within the entire circle of the 
Supreme Jurisdiction. 

No intelligent Knight can be insensible to the fact 
that our miraculous increase in numbers, wealth, and 
power is not alone the result of human agency, that its 
cause must be sought for in other fields — and that our 
future welfare can only be maintained by a strict fidelity 

* Supreme Chancellor's report to Supreme Lodge, Toronto, 
Ontario. 



134 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

and adherence to those ennobling doctrines and tenets so 
forcibly and beautifully enunciated in our " Declaration 
of Principles," and which run like so many threads of 
gold through our splendid and impressive ritualistic 
ceremonies, and inhere in that trinity of sweet and mag- 
netic words selected by the founder as our motto. 

The membership of any great secret order, that may 
be inspired by such pure and lofty sentiments, will be true 
and faithful in all their devotion to the " powers that be," 
and will never fail to render obedience to the legislation 
and decrees of the trustees of their power. 
/ The high and holy mission of Pythian Knighthood is 
to relieve the miseries incident to human life, to assuage 
its sorrows, to wipe away the tears of widows and 
orphans. 

Man needed a closer acquaintance with man the world 
over. This organization was formed to deal with sub- 
stantial life, to minister to real wants. 

A more practical benevolence was wanted in the world 
to seek out distress, bind up wounds, assuage griefs, feed 
the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner, educate 
the orphan, protect the widow, comfort the dying, and 
bury the dead. There are now over one hundred and 
seventy regiments of us, cemented together by the 
strong and indissoluble bonds of eternal friendship 
which prompted that heroic soul on December 25, 1870, 
at Richmond, Va., to offer up his precious life, a willing 
sacrifice for his brother, and thus clearly demonstrate 
to the world that the principles of true friendship, as 
inculcated by this Order, will stand the severest ordeal 
to which humanity can be subjected — that of a man 
giving his life for another. 

The same truth was impressively illustrated in the 
self-sacrifice of Peter Woodland, the assistant superin- 



KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS 135 

tendent of the Hudson River tunnel, on the terrible 
morning of July 21, 1880, who nobly died that others 
might live, and standing at his post cried out, "Save 
yourselves, and then do for us what you can." Life 
was as sweet and attractive to him as to any of you. 
He might have saved himself. He could hear the call 
of his youthful wife and his two-year-old child. He had 
a very pleasant and happy home, and was surrounded by 
troops of friends; and had he, in compliance with that 
first law of nature — self-preservation — sought his per- 
sonal safety, who would have censured him? But he 
chose to die that others might live, and so we revere 
him as among earth's choicest heroes. 

In this list of immortal names will be found William 
A. Mestemaker, the engineer of the ill-fated steamer 
Robert E. Lee, of the lower Mississippi River, as well as 
Henry S. Reynolds, Grand Chancellor of Tennessee, who 
died of yellow fever at Memphis, on the 18th day of 
September, 1878. He was an active member of the 
Pythian committee of relief during the prevalence of 
that fearful scourge of yellow fever which ravaged 
Tennessee in 1878, and was constant, faithful, fearless 
and untiring in ministering to the wants of his afflicted 
brothers from the very beginning of the pestilence. He 
was enfeebled by long weeks of physical fatigue and 
mental unrest, and thus fell an easy victim when stricken 
by the scourge. He wrote to a brother that : " So long 
as one member of the Order remains in Memphis, I 
deem it my duty to stay ; and should I fall, I will fall at 
my post of duty." What a sublime display of that 
" courage which, arising from a sense of duty, and 
coupled with friendship, encounters difficulties and dan- 
gers with firmness and without fear or depression of 
spirits ! " 



136 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

After all, what are these deeds of heroic endurance on 
the part of these martyrs of friendship but the rich and 
luscious fruitage of the inspiration of the example of the 
Saviour on the cross of Calvary, and of that sublime act 
of the hero of Grecian story, who, under the Pytha- 
gorean teaching, suffered himself, yea, craved the privi- 
lege, to be cast into a loathsome dungeon, and to suffer 
death, if needs be, that another might live ? 

We look for these inspirations in the example of the 
great men who have lived before us, that we may model 
our lives according to their lofty pattern. Each one's 
life is but a series of inspirations. They have come 
down to us through the ages, not, it may be, with the 
resonance, but yet with more than the thrilling power of 
the trumpet, that rouses the armed battalion to battle, 
and nerves and strengthens us in the battle of life. 

" Thus pass away the men of might, 

Whose noiseless footprints stamped the age; 
Their thoughts, that filled the earth with light, 
Still glow and blaze on memory's page. 

" There is no death ; the stars go down 
To rise upon some fairer shore ; 
And bright in heaven's jeweled crown 
They shine and shine forever more." 

One of the leading maxims of the Pythagorean phil- 
osophy was, " that the two most excellent things for 
man were to speak the truth and to render benefits to 
each other," and I pray that the sunlight of truth may 
burn this maxim in your heart of hearts. 

My sojourn in the State of California was one of con- 
tinual enjoyment, and a constant succession of surprises. 
It is truly the land of flowers and sunshine, of snow-clad 



KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS 137 

mountains and smiling valleys, of majestic forests, of 
gold and silver, of the orange and the fig, of Italian 
skies, of crystal rivers and beauteous landscapes, of 
health, wealth, and contentment, possessing all those 
elements which form a prosperous, powerful, and happy 
commonwealth. 



ADDRESS OF ACCEPTANCE 

BY HOWARD DOUGLASS.* 

Officers and Representatives of the Supreme Lodge, 
Knights of Pythias, Knightly Sirs and Brothers: 
For the highest gift of honor in your power to bestow, 
and especially for the renewed confidence and esteem you 
have so unanimously manifested towards him upon whom 
that honor has now fallen, no words, no set form of 
speech, can adequately express my feelings or convey 
to you the thanksgiving of my heart. You have again, 
by a supreme act of friendship, reduced to poverty the 
" mother tongue/' and I am sure there is no other 
language on earth capable of supplying my wants in any 
appropriate form of expression. 

But if those more natural and reciprocal signs, as 
displayed through the tender emotions of the heart and 
the noble workings of the mind, are of any value in 
this presence, it is certain that my appreciation of your 
knightly favor will be fully recognized. 

If, indeed, it were possible to wholly unbosom and 
show the various forms of exalted feeling now at work 
in the " Supreme Lodge " of my heart in the endeavor 

* On his election to the office of Supreme Chancellor, Toronto, 
Ontario, July, 1886. 



138 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

to exemplify what is due to you in wealth of thanks, you 
would probably acknowledge " honors even," at least 
so far as the tokens of friendship are concerned. Still, 
you are aware, while I am deeply conscious of the fact, 
that were the interest compounded on your favors pre- 
viously conferred upon me, I would be forever left in* 
arrears. Those of you who were present at our last 
session on a similar occasion — that of my preference for 
second position by your suffrages — may recall to mind the 
silent yet natural expression of my feelings at that 
time. Allow me to assure you that my heart has not 
changed in quality or power of feeling towards you. It 
has only become more familiar with and appreciative of 
your matchless bounty. 

I shall endeavor to prove to you by an exemplary zeal 
and course of conduct, by an impartial courtesy and 
promptness in every official act, that your exceeding great 
confidence and esteem has not been misplaced ; and if 
honest purpose, unswerving loyalty, and devotion to the 
interests of our Order are the proper criterions in judging 
official and fraternal acts, I hope to deserve at the close 
of the administration the only reward to be coveted at 
your hands : " Well done, thou good and faithful 
servant." 

My greatest desire at this moment is to be able to fully 
grasp and appreciate the import of the authority com- 
mitted to my keeping under the solemn obligations 
imposed upon me; and in this spirit of acceptance alone 
do I ask both your collective and individual support in 
the performance of my duties. I feel that without your 
most charitable and earnest desire for my success, and 
your most zealous co-operation therein, the prospect 
before me would appear forlorn, hampered as I would 
be at the start by perplexities of mind and heart that 



KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS 139 

would weigh heavily upon every action. But assured of 
your knightly generosity of soul, and by observing the 
wise course marked out by my illustrious predecessor in 
office, I feel already confident that there is nothing to 
oppose save that natural shortcoming in human wisdom 
to which all are liable, but which, even in my humble 
experience, I trust will always " lean to virtue's side." 

I shall strive to hold fast to the text as well as the 
spirit of the laws as devised in our constitution and 
deployed through the wisdom of your legislative acts and 
decisions, and to show no partiality or favor in conflict 
with the majority opinion of this body or the general 
welfare of the Order — always bearing in mind that you 
are the controlling power and directing head, of which 
I am but the instrument and the executive right arm. 

During the interval of your control, in the functional 
performance of the duties of this office, I shall exercise 
no policy at variance with the best approved traditions 
and usages of the Order. 

Brothers, aside from any serious consideration of the 
duties attached to my position, we have before us in 
the immediate future the most pleasing prospect to con- 
template. 

The exceeding harmony and unity of spirit and action 
existing throughout the brotherhood, the marvelous 
showing of numerical and financial increase in every 
rank, the more general adoption and greater uniformity 
of wise methods and rules of action governing every 
lodge and department of the Order, all point toward a 
continuation, and even more rapid development, of 
growth and prosperity. 
^ Since heaven's bow of beauty was set in the cloud 
there has never appeared a brighter promise, a more 
glorious hope of world-wide Friendship, Charity, and 



14° THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Benevolence than arches the Pythian horizon to-day. 
We have passed out of the glimmering dawn of infancy, 
the darkening storms of early youth, and have emerged 
into the noontide splendor of success in a career of 
moral grandeur and usefulness upon which all people 
under the sun may look with pride, with hope, and with 
gladness. We have put on the full chivalric uniform of 
knightly manhood, and now stand " four square to all 
the winds," foremost in line among the greatest institu- 
tions of earth. 

I congratulate you upon having met in council, under 
such favorable circumstances, on the soil of that Empire 
whose girdle of conquest encircles the earth and marks 
the northern boundary of our own. We have occasion 
to rejoice over our first united effort to get a good, stay- 
ing hold upon that girdle, and to capture the millions of 
brave hearts that throb within it. Let us show by our 
knightly deportment, by every manly act of mercy 
known to our brotherhood of the States, where we so 
mightily prevail, that we are equal to the task of foreign 
conquest and worthy of the great prize. But let that 
conquest be mainly on the one side of the nobler qualities 
of mind and heart ; on the other, the subjugation of false 
pride, envious strife, and unruly passions, if any exist in 
our bosoms, and the cultivation of mutual brotherly 
relations of knightly esteem, that we may wisely and 
prudently accelerate our gathering strength, and add, if 
possible, a more resplendent luster to our character as 
an Order. The fact that we are a closely united brother- 
hood — that our lines of jurisdiction are drawn for con- 
venience or utility rather than as a sign of separation, 
whether between nations or parts of one nationality, that 
they really are the golden threads which interweave and 
bind all parts into one grand union of strength, and that 



KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS 14 x 

our relations to all peoples, governments, and institutions 
are cosmopolitan, the kindly offering on our part of 
peace, good will, and friendship — should be the source of 
heartfelt pride and gratification to every true Knight. 
May we not indulge the hope, that at no distant day a 
certificate of lodge membership with the Knights of 
Pythias seal attached and properly attested, will be a 
ready passport in our country and find a Pythian welcome 
in every part of the world where civilization has made a 
footstep or founded a home? When that time comes, 
as it surely must, the record of any other secret or benevo- 
lent order will appear, by the side of our brilliant vase, a 
mere punctuation mark in the great charter of modern 
events. 

Meeting upon this beautiful and time-honored spot 
of the Old Dominion, we are reminded of the historical 
fact, an interesting one perhaps in this connection, that 
this is the very place w r here the first Knight was created 
on Canadian soil. But the subject upon whom that honor 
was conferred was a British General, and he was made a 
Sir Knight by the sovereign power of England for having 
captured an American fort just across the border. That 
place was Detroit, now one of the strongholds of our 
Order, which is gallantly represented here to-day in 
victorious possession of this new Pythian stronghold, a 
case of ample reparation, it would seem, for any former 
mistake of violence or improper conception of real 
Knighthood among the ruling Powers. From such an 
historical incident and pleasing contrast of occurrences 
we may note an illustration of the idea that friendship 
and gallantry of action are closely allied. They are indeed 
of the best fiber of the human heart. Friendship is more 
distinctly improved by association and the spread of intel- 
ligence, It has been called that mysterious cement of the 



142 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

soul that builds stronger than adamant the foundations 
of society in support of the greatest of all beliefs among 
men — the only creed that will outlast the ravages of time 
and faction — " The Brotherhood of man and the Father- 
hood of God." The greatest hindrance to the establish- 
ment and thorough working of this creed is the old snare- 
set policy of cultivating the understanding at the expense 
of the heart. 

Let us not forget that we who are joined together for 
the exemplification of Pythian virtues but receive the 
lighted torch of wisdom and experience from those who 
have preceded us and hand it along to the next. In ful- 
filling our glorious office let us also remember that the 
principles of our Order are but the inspirations of com- 
mon sense, and belong of right to all mankind. Let us 
seek to extend them, therefore, that they may become 
more universally applied, until this most brilliantly sym- 
bolic system of Friendship, Charity, and Benevolence for 
the government of all hearts is so firmly established that 
selfish combinations of power and misrule will be forever 
banished from human society. 

Brothers, I again extend to you, individually and as a 
body, the most cordial greeting of my heart, and again 
thank you. 

KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS EULOGY* 

BY PAST SUPREME CHANCELLOR VAN VALKENBURG. 

Once more we are called upon to mourn the loss of one 
of earth's noblest sons, and one of our most beloved and 
cherished Pythian Knights. No truer man, more devoted 

*On Past Supreme Chancellor S. S. Davis. 



KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS 143 

Christian, or more exemplary Knight ever graced the 
roster of any fraternal organization in this or any other 
land. 

In every relation of life he was the same true, trusted, 
and model man — making all of his associates happy and 
contented by his genial nature and words of good cheer. 

His name is now registered in the calendar of saints. 
His mission on earth was to illustrate the pure doctrines 
of practical benevolence in seeking out distress, binding 
up wounds, assuaging griefs, feeding the hungry, 
clothing the naked, educating the orphan, protecting the 
widow, comforting the dying, and burying the dead. He 
fully recognized the doctrine that man needed a closer 
acquaintance with man the world over. 

Our lamented brother was eminently well qualified for 
a leader in the great Pythian movement, and to his skill, 
ability, and vigilance our wondrous growth is largely due. 

You all do know our terrible condition as an Order in 
1874 — when our brother was first elected to the Chief 
Executive office. Then there was no money in the 
exchequer, a large indebtedness hanging over us, and 
doubt and distrust pervading the hearts of the entire 
membership. Under his wise, discreet, and conservative 
management confidence was restored, a rapid growth 
ensued, and at the Supreme Lodge session in 1876, at 
Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, every obligation was 
discharged, and there was a surplus remaining in the 
treasury. In recognition of these invaluable services he 
was chosen for a second time to preside over the destinies 
of our great Order, and earned the lasting gratitude of 
every true Knight by a faithful, zealous, and honest dis- 
charge of duty during such second term. 

Ruby, diamonds, chalcedony, pearl, and emerald are all 
cold, dead things, They glitter and dazzle; they make 



144 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

people envious and uncomfortable, but they cheer nobody, 
they feed nobody, they comfort nobody. The name and 
fame of S. S. Davis are worth more than all the gems of 
Christendom. They will grow brighter and brighter as 
the years come and go. 

In all the years to come his eulogy will be breathed 
silently into the ear of heaven with the last prayer of 
the dying ; by the widow over the bier of her husband ; 
by the young orphan over the grave of his father. He 
will be recognized in all the oncoming years as the 
" Moses " of Pythian Knighthood. 

Although a leader and an important factor in nearly 
all the other great charitable orders of this era, one Order 
was his first love, and received the lion's share of his time, 
talents, and affection. The beautiful incident of unsullied 
friendship upon which our ritual was formulated was 
interwoven in the very warp and woof of his being, and 
was burned into his heart of hearts by the sunlight of 
Truth, and acted as an inspiration on his life. 

No man ever more fully exemplified the cardinal doc- 
trines of this humanitarian movement in his daily walk 
than our lamented brother. By every act, word, and look 
he seemed to reaffirm the saying of our illustrious proto- 
type : "/ do prefer, the certainty of death unto the possi- 
bility of dishonor." 

" Ah, Knights, it is a glorious plan, 
This changeless fellowship of man! 
Not like the lover's 'wildering bliss; 
Not like the first impassioned kiss. 
These are life's ecstasies divine, 
That blend like bubbles in the wine. 

" Yet, like its sparkle, false though fair, 

A serpent's sting oft rankles there. 
• But as th$ river to the sea. 



KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS 145 

Steadfast and true your love must be; 
Constant, undimmed, your friendship run, 
As planet circling round the sun." 

His pure, unostentatious, and lovable life will exercise 
a strong influence over our membership as long as men 
revere and cherish unselfish devotion to duty, genuine 
manhood, and the highest type of chivalry. 

" But there are deeds which shall not pass away, 

And names that must not wither, though the Earth 

Forgets her empires with a just decay, 
The enslavers and the enslaved, their death and birth ; 

And high the mountain majesty of worth 
Should be, and still survivor of its woe, 

And from its immortality look forth 

In the sun's face, like yonder Alpine snow, 
Imperishably pure beyond all things below. 

"There are distinctions that will live in Heaven, 
When time is a forgotten circumstance! 
The elevated crown of kings will lose 
The impress of Regalia, and the slave 
Will wear his immortality as free 
Beside the crystal waters ; but the depth 
Of glory in the attributes of God 
Will measure the capacities of mind; 
And, as the angels differ, will the ken 
Of gifted spirits glorify Him more." 



FRATERNAL LOYALTY 

Remarkable,, indeed, is the record of the various fra- 
ternal organizations during the past two years. Though 
many have dropped out from membership through in- 
ability to pay dues, we venture to assert that by far a 
larger proportion of the suspensions for non-payment of 



I4 6 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

dues has been the result of carelessness and neglect 
rather than of inability to pay. 

The thoughtful and prudent man realizes all the more, 
in times like those of the past two years, the necessity 
of giving protection to the loved ones who would, indeed, 
fare most bitterly if sickness or death should come. This 
thought has moved thousands to pay their dues to the fra- 
ternities to which they belong with sacred fidelity, con- 
scious that if need came the means to meet it had been 
secured. 

Thus by fraternal loyalty to the Order one cause of 
mental worry and suffering has been removed. Has not 
the man out of employment felt his burden more grievous 
to bear if with his idleness there came the torturing 
thought, " What would my loved ones do, should I 
be ill?" 

Take the thought into your inmost heart, my brother, 
and maintain your fraternal loyalty. You may never 
need the benefits thereby guaranteed, Heaven grant you 
may not. But if you do, they will be forthcoming. If 
you do not, some other brother less fortunate and more 
needy will bless you that by your help life was made more 
happy for him in his hour of affliction. 

Pythian Knight. 



KNIGHTS OF MALTA 

Historical. — This fraternity, though active in the modern life 
of the present day, follows the traditions and preserves the essen- 
tial principles of the historic Knights Hospitalers of St. John, 
and derives from their usages its beautiful and impressive ritual. 

The cradle of the Ancient Order was the Hospital of St. John 
the Almoner, erected in Jerusalem in 1048, for the relief of Chris- 
tian pilgrims visiting Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulchre. The 
Brethren of the Order devoted themselves to the service and 
defense of the Hospital along with the Hospital of St. Mary 
Magdalen for women. These hospitals had been built and sup- 
ported by the contributions of wealthy European Christians, and 
the services of the Knights made the charity effective. 

The good name of the Hospitals in Jerusalem led to the found- 
ing of a number of similar charities throughout Europe 
cared for by Christian Knights in fellowship with the Knights 
Hospitalers in Jerusalem : and these different companies of 
Knights became, under the name of Knights of St. John of 
Jerusalem, the most celebrated of the military and religious 
orders of the Middle Ages. The father and manager of the 
Hospital in Jerusalem, Pierre Gerard, grew old in the service, 
and died at his post in the year 11 18. His Order had been 
approved by Pope Paschal II. in 11 13. Gerard was succeeded 
by Raymond du Puy, who armed the Order for defense against 
the Moslems. This military movement attracted many noble 
young men, and the Order was formally classified into three 
classes of knights, priests, and brother servants. The great 
increase of members enabled the Order to deliver the Christians 
from Moslem aggression in Jaffa, Tyre and Phoenicia, Antioch 
and Coele-Syria, and assist in the capture of Ascalon in 1153. In 
1 187 the Order was engaged in the disastrous battle of Tiberias 
against the famous Saladin, and was nearly annihilated. They 
were unfortunately involved in disputes and hostilities with the 
Templars, and both Orders suffered severe losses in the battle 
of Gaza in 1244. 

On the recapture of Jerusalem that year by the Saracens it 
is said that only sixteen Knights Hospitalers survived, and the 
Order would probably have become extinct but for its European 
commanderies. 

When Acre fell into the hands of the Moslems, in 1291, the 
Knights retired to Limisso, in the Island of Cyprus, where they 
were recruited from the commanderies in Europe. 

They now, from their insular residence, carried on naval war- 

147 



148 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

fare, defending pilgrims by sea with great distinction and success, 
and in 1309 they seized the Island of Rhodes, and there main- 
tained a strongly fortified outpost of Christendom for two cen- 
turies, repelling a memorable siege in 1480, but forty-two years 
later, in 1522, after a heroic defense for six months, they were 
compelled to evacuate the island, They made a temporary stay 
at Viterbo, forty miles from Rome, but in 1530 the Emperor, 
Charles V., gave them the Island of Malta, from which they took 
their most lasting name. Their fortification of the island was 
very strong and they established themselves there with great 
power for over two hundred and fifty years, repelling strong 
attacks by the Turks in 155 1 and 1565. 

The Knights in Malta- maintained correspondence with the 
commanderies in Europe, and especially in Scotland ; and it is 
said that many Knights were in sympathy with the Protestant 
Reformation which had begun in 15 17, and that a considerable 
number left Malta for Scotland and England in 1557, and that a 
Protestant insurrection on the island took place in 1685, and 
that these movements weakened the garrison at Malta, but 
strengthened the commanderies in Scotland. 

King David I. of Scotland had founded St. John's Preceptory 
in Linlithgowshire in the 12th century, and its repute became 
so great that in 1463 the honor of ordination was conferred by 
the Grand Master at Rhodes upon Sir William Knolls, who fell 
beside his King at Flodden Field in 1513. He was succeeded by 
Sir George Dundass, he by Sir W. Lindsay, and he in turn by 
Sir James Sandilands, who was installed in 1538. 

Sir James early accepted the Reformed faith and co-operated 
in the Scottish Reformation with John Knox ; and though excom- 
municated by the Pope, he continued earnest for the faith, and 
in this was followed by the Scottish Knights. 

How much influence this movement in Scotland had over the 
Knights remaining in Malta, it is not easy to say. But the com- 
manderies in Scotland took more and more a leading position in 
the Order, while the garrison at Malta grew weaker during the 
seventeenth century, and were finally dispossessed by Napoleon 
in 1789. With the fall of their island fortress the Knights of 
Malta ceased to be an influential military factor, though several 
attempts were made to revive them. 

The historic connection of the mediaeval Knights with the 
Order in the present day is mainly the honor paid to their early 
devoted heroism and the perpetuation of their military organiza- 
tion in the ritual of a modern benevolent fraternity. The Order 
has had its full share of secessions and disputes as to jurisdiction, 
but these seem mostly of the past, and at the present time the 
Order is at one in subordination to the " Imperial Parent Grand 
Black Encampment of the Universe," which has its headquarters 
at Glasgow, and is to-day recognized throughout the world as the 
sole source of Maltese authority, in affiliation with which are all 
the regular Knights of Malta on the American Continent 



KNIGHTS OF MALTA 149 

The Order was first introduced into America in 1870, an en- 
campment being chartered in Toronto, Canada. It soon extended 
into the United States, and in 1875 the Imperial Body of Scot- 
land granted a charter to the Supreme Encampment of America. 
This body ceased to maintain the Protestant traditions of the 
parent organization, and its charter was revoked. But some 
commanderies remained loyal to the Imperial Encampment, con- 
tinuing their work in that connection, and in 1884 they formed 
themselves into a Grand Body, and, growing rapidly, they were 
chartered in 1889 by the "Imperial Parent Grand Black Encamp- 
ment of the Universe " as the Supreme Grand Commandery 
of America, with sole power in America to issue charters and 
arbitrate all questions of dispute, " so long as it maintains 
Protestantism, civil and religious liberty, and the ancient land- 
marks of the Order." 

The Order has grown to over three hundred commanderies 
in seventeen States, the District of Columbia, and Canada. 

It preserves the rites and ceremonies of the Middle Ages, and 
its twelve degrees are of extraordinary beauty and sublimity. 

In its declaration of principles it declares itself " a body of men 
banded together, under most binding forms, to comfort one 
another in the practice of the Christian Religion ; to offer mutual 
assistance in time of need; to promote Protestant Unity; to de- 
fend the Protestant faith against all foes whatsoever ; to ever de- 
fend civil and religious liberty ; to exercise the fullest toleration 
and charity toward all men ; to practice benevolence, and to main- 
tain a universal Protestant fraternity. 

"It is neither a national, political, nor sectarian association. 

" It is the most Ancient Knightly Order in existence, and is 
the legitimate descendant of the illustrious, religious, and military 
order of the Middle Ages; heir to its greatness, and fully en- 
dowed with all its ancient rites and ceremonies. 

" It is Fraternal, and its obligations^ bind to secrecy and mutual 
protection. 

" It is Military, but drilling and uniforming are optional. 

" It is a Religious Order, and welcomes all Protestants, by 
whatever name known, who love our Lord Jesus Christ, to enlist 
under its banner. 

" It is Beneficial, paying both sick and. death benefits. 

" He had a tear of pity and a hand 
Open as day for melting Charity. 

"The Order is at all times alert to every commendable move- 
ment of genuine practical value to fraternal organizations ; it 
adopts the best; it is thoroughly up to date, and among its 
many rightful claims to recognition is the fact that its business 
management, from the Supreme Grand Commandery through to 
the Grand Commandery and finally to the Subordinate Com- 
manderies, is based upon the most conservative, prudent, and yet 
progressive business lines. No other Order upon the American 



15° THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Continent can boast of a more healthful existence and growth, 
both from a financial as well as a numerical standpoint, than that 
experienced by the Order of Malta. It is, has been, and will con- 
tinue to be, a perfect 'Gibraltar' in stability. Its ritualistic 
work is divinely sublime and of great beauty, with possibilities of 
elaboration and impressiveness almost beyond comprehension. 

" In none of its work does it in the slightest degree conflict 
with that of any other Order. In our ranks are thousands of 
Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and members of 
kindred orders. Its obligations are broad and inspiring, and 
the most liberal-minded American can consistently accept its 
teachings." 

CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY 

1048 Established at Jerusalem; a charitable and religious 

Order. 
1099 The first Crusaders enter Jerusalem. 

1 1 18 Choose the first elected Grand Master — Raymond Du Puy. 

1 1 19 Order of Knights Templars established at Jerusalem. 
1 158 The last of a series of victories over the infidels. 

1 160 Raymond Du Puy died, after 40 years' service as Grand 

Master. 

1 187 Jerusalem surrendered to the Mohammedans. 

1228 Jerusalem recaptured by the Knights. 

1244 The infidels recaptured Jerusalem after a terrible combat. 

1244 Only 16 Hospitalers and 33 Templars survived. 

1290 The two orders found an asylum on the Island of Cyprus. 

1310 They besieged and finally captured the Island of Rhodes. 

1310 Knights Templars disbanded and their property given the 

Hospitalers. 

1480 Infidels failed in their attempt to capture Rhodes. 

1522 The Moslems succeeded in capturing Rhodes. 

1523 Knights Hospitalers and 42d Grand Master leave Rhodes. 
1530 Charles V. of Germany gave the Island of Malta to the 

Knights. 
1530 The Knights unfurled their banner on Malta fortress. 
1560 The Hospitalers accepted the doctrine of the Reformation. 
1798 Malta seized by Napoleon while on his way to Egypt. 
1798 Emperor Paul of Russia elected 70th Grand Master. 
1798 Standard of St. John hoisted permanently on the bastions 

of the Admiralty of St. Petersburg, where it continues 

unfurled to this day. 
1800 The sixth language (English) becomes the sole one in 

existence. 
Supreme Grand Commandery, Continent of America, 

Chartered by the Parent Grand Black Encampment of 

the Universe, with headquarters at Glasgow, Scotland, 

conveying full power on the Continent of America. 



KNIGHTS OF MALTA 151 



OPINIONS OF EMINENT MEN OF THE ORDER 

SIR REV. JAMES G. BOUGHTER, P. G. C, GRAND PRELATE, 

GRAND COMMANDERY OF PENNSYLVANIA, 

MILLERSBURG, PA. 

Malta is a magnificent multitude of men " under a 
noble standard marshaled," a mighty host of Hospitalers 
of whom the world, the Church, and the Order can feel 
justly proud. It stands for the Cross, speaks for the 
Christ, and strives for the Church, against all the foes of 
righteousness and truth. Maltese Knighthood is desira- 
ble both on account of the dignity of its past history and 
on account of the destiny of its future glory. Its secret 
mysteries of Biblical precepts, and its sacred ministries of 
practical Christianity, deserve to be eternally perpetuated 
and universally propagated. With its creed of an ideal 
humanity, and its deeds of a real hospitality, there 
is abundant reason for its existence and continuance in 
the Occident to-day as there was in the Orient of old. 
Its mission is one of service rather than one of worship, 
and it is therefore admirably adapted to this utilitarian 
age. It makes me a better man of God and minister of 
the Gospel; for Malta makes men — if its principles are 
imbibed in the heart and its purposes are embossed in the 
life. With the Cross of Calvary and the Creed of the 
Nazarene embodied, emphasized, and exemplified in our 
cherished ritual, Maltese Knighthood possesses the njost 
potent energies for the betterment of mankind, and is 
destined in this twentieth century to have a large part 
in conforming the spirit of the world unto the Spirit of 
the Lord. 



15* THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 



SIR REV. O. R. MILLER, D. D., PASTOR FIRST M. E. CHURCH, 
HOLYOKE, MASS., PRELATE OF MASSASOIT COMMANDERY. 

I was formerly prejudiced against all secret societies, 
having refused invitations to join many. But some 
Christian friends whom I esteem very highly were en- 
thusiastic Knights of Malta, and they persuaded me to 
.join the Order. I am glad to say that I have never had 
occasion to regret so doing. My connection with the 
Knights of Malta has given me an influence with many 
men, and also an opportunity to reach and help them in 
spiritual things, that I could not have had in my ordinary 
church work. Not that Malta is above Church, for I 
place no human organization above the Church of Jesus 
Christ ; but next to the Church, among the quiet and posi- 
tive forces which are making for righteousness, and the 
Kingdom of God on earth, I place in high honor the 
Ancient and Illustrious Order of Knights of Malta. I 
believe in the Order, and feel sure that it has a mission 
in the world. I believe that our country needs its defense 
and work in the future as much as did the holy pilgrims 
in the centuries that are gone. 

SIR REV. THOMAS CHALMERS EASTON, D. D., EASTERN 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PAST COMMANDER CAPITAL 

CITY COMMANDERY, NO. 169, WASHINGTON, D. C 

For. pure philanthropy, an evangelical system of truth, 
well drilled military discipline, growing numerical 
strength, generous fraternal unity, animated and pervaded 
with the love of God and our glorious Redeemer, Malta 
Knighthood stands to-day without a rival in America! 
Its ritualistic work and degrees are as full of profound 



KNIGHTS OF MALTA 153 

significance, well calculated to lead men to higher types of 
manhood, as can be found in any human institution — yes, 
I hesitate not to say, cannot be equaled in any human 
organized body. There are many claimants for our 
young men in America, many systems of knighthood, 
so-called, pleading for their services ; but as a Christian 
minister, and standing in one of the leading pulpits of 
the nation, I give it as my deliberate judgment — for pure 
evangelical knighthood none can take rank with the 
Ancient and Illustrious Order of the Knights of Malta. 



BENEVOLENT AND PROTECTIVE 
ORDER OF ELKS 

Historical. — This charitable and benevolent society, largely 
but not entirely made up of actors, was founded by Charles 
Algernon S. Vivian, an Englishman and an actor, but in the 
city of New York, in 1866, beginning in a social club of actors, 
who secured a club-room in Fourteenth Street, and afterwards 
in the Bowery, where especially they might meet socially and 
have refreshments and lunch, particularly on Sunday, their day 
of rest, when many public houses were closed to business. 

As the society showed itself more than a mere convivial club, 
they desired a distinctive and American name, and noticing a 
fine moose head in Barnum's old museum in New York, they 
chose it as their emblem, and the name Elks for their Order, 
as Buffon describes the Cervus A Ices as "fleet of foot, and 
timorous of doing wrong, avoiding all combat except in fighting 
for the female and in defense of the young and helpless and 
weak." Later, correcting their natural history, they took the 
elk head (Cervus Canadensis) for their emblem. 

Their design was to make it one of the leading brotherhoods 
not founded on political or financial considerations. 

Their rules allow only one lodge of Elks in a city, and this 
restriction works well practically. Subordinate lodges have been 
organized in about three hundred American cities, and are under 
a governing body called the Supreme Lodge. The members in 
1898 numbered about 35,000, and besides a large number of 
actors included members from all the leading walks of business 
and professional life. The order is distinguished for its charity, 
which is perhaps not less extended in that it is not their professed 
object of association, but is "inoffensive, untraced, and un- 
suspected." 

The Grand Lodge held an immense gathering in Baltimore, 
Md., in July, 1903, when it was reported that the delegates and 
their friends in the city numbered 30,000. 

The annual reports of Grand Secretary George A. Reynolds 
and Grand Treasurer Samuel A. Needs were read at the business 
meeting of the Grand Lodge. They contain a comprehensive 
review of the work of the Order during the past year and of its 
present* condition. These show that eighty-one new lodges were 
organized during the year, with a membership of 27,594, making 
the total membership of the Order of Elks 153,722 at the present 
time. This is the largest increase in the history of the Order. 

155 



156 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Pennsylvania leads with 13,250 members, Ohio is second with 
12,447, Michigan third with 9,992, New York fourth with 9,443, 
and Indiana fifth with 8,478. During the past year $47,000 was 
expended in the purchase of a home for aged Elks, and over 
$10,000 was expended for flood sufferers in Kansas, Missouri, 
and Oregon. The general treasury has now on hand $49,000 
cash. 

Appended to the report are exhaustive financial and statistical 
tables. By these it is shown that during the year 1294 members 
of the Order in good standing died, 3445 were stricken from the 
rolls for non-payment of dues, and 190 suspended or expelled. 

The amount of money expended during the year for charity 
was $189,616.19. The amount of money on hand March 31, 1902, 
was $1,009,879, and from March 31, 1902, to March 31, 1903, the 
total amount received was $2,925,553.18. The total amount 
expended during the year was $2,756,365.57. 



DEDICATION ADDRESS 

BY HON. ANDREW JACKSON MONTAGUE.* 

It is difficult to give expression of welcome to so 
notable an assemblage, for the mission of your presence 
works the silent rapture of hospitality. As distant as 
may be your homes, and as varied as may be your occu- 
pations, still you come in response to a common purpose 
— charity, that radiant virtue of humanity. 

But if the people of any State can welcome the people 
of other States of the Union, Virginia can appropriately 
do so. Indeed, it is not far wide of the fact to assert 
that many of you here present are either her children or 
the descendants of her children, and if not, that you come 
from lands which have been either given by her to the 
common Union, or have been acquired for the common 
Union, by the mind and hand of her statesmen and 

* Governor of Virginia, at the dedication of the Elks' National 
Home, at Bedford City, Va., May 21, 1903. 



ORDER OF ELKS 157 

warriors. And it is fitting that you have come back, 
so to speak, to this old State and to this historic county, 
amid these beautiful surroundings and under the shadows 
of these everlasting hills to exemplify virtues by deeds. 

The professions and practices of men must measure 
the standards of civilization. It is idle to profess charity, 
justice, brotherly love, and fidelity, if no deeds come forth 
as the flower of our faith. In establishing this home for 
needy and deserving men we avouch the work for the 
word, the fruit for the faith. For this home is not a 
dead monument, but a living memorial of the teachings 
of this great order. We should not be just if we did not 
do unto others as we would have them do unto us. We 
should not be faithful to that charity which is the strong 
arm of love if we did not out of our abundance give to 
those in want and sorrow. 

Coming, as we do to-day, from all parts of our great 
Republic, representing an order that extends from the 
Atlantic seaboard away to the islands of the Pacific, we 
find it difficult to repress the realization of the greatness 
of our country and the union and patriotism of our 
people. This is an American home, upon Virginia's soil, 
and under Virginia's skies. Her people sympathize with 
the undertaking, and her laws will safeguard this phil- 
anthropic trust. All of which bespeaks " an indissoluble 
Union of indestructible States," which should live in 
charity and justice, and should grow to an undreamed of 
power in walking the paths of peace. 



PART II 

BENEFICIARY AND FRATERNAL 
ORDERS 



INTRODUCTORY 



THE NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 

ADDRESSES ON THE ADVANTAGES OF FRATERNAL 
BENEFICIARY SOCIETIES 

This is an annual convention of fraternal beneficiary 
organizations in the United States. It was formed at 
the suggestion of a resolution adopted by the Supreme 
Lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen in their 
session at Minneapolis, Minn., in June, 1886. This reso- 
lution was as follows : 

" Resolved, That the incoming Supreme Master Work- 
man be authorized to appoint, upon the basis hereinafter 
stated, a committee, who shall also act as delegates on the 
part of the Supreme Lodge, to bring about a meeting 
and permanent organization of representatives of fra- 
ternal beneficiary societies ; that such committee invite 
other beneficiary societies to unite in such an association ; 
that representation in such association for the first meet- 
ing to be one delegate for the first 40,000 beneficiary 
members, or part thereof, or any organization taking part, 
and one delegate for each 40,000 members, or fractional 
part thereof, in excess of 20,000; and that such com- 
mittee have power to arrange further details to secure the 
perfect organization and perpetuation of such an associa- 
tion of representatives." 

161 



1 62 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Such a committee was appointed and called a prelimi- 
nary meeting of representatives of various fraternal bene- 
ficiary societies to be held in Washington, D. C, Novem- 
ber 1 6, 1886. 

The committee set forth the objects of the convention 
as follows : 

" The widely extended influence and vast pecuniary 
interests connected with and represented by the great 
beneficiary societies of the present time render them a 
most important and interesting feature of social develop- 
ment in this country. There are a large number (not 
less than fifty) of those societies, each having a con- 
siderable membership, carrying on a purely fraternal 
beneficiary business in the United States, and among 
these are not included any merely speculative or non- 
fraternal co-operative concerns. Their methods are, in 
a very great degree, the same, and their interests are 
based on principles which are identical. It is confidently 
believed that the formation of a national body will prove 
of great advantage to every organization represented. 
The co-operative plan of insurance as carried on by our 
societies has not wholly laid aside the character of an 
experiment, and the fundamental principles upon which 
their future depends have never been fully proven or 
even investigated. It would be as unreasonable to ex- 
pect a successful importing merchant to carry on business 
in ignorance of foreign and domestic markets, the rate of 
exchange, etc., as to expect our great fraternities to 
achieve the highest, and especially a continued, success, 
knowing nothing of the rules which govern admissions, 
lapses, death-rates, and other questions relating to such 
organizations. These ideas are, of course, not new to 
you who have had much experience in the work of fra- 
ternities, and it is, of course, evident to you that the in- 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 163 

vestigation of these principles can best be conducted 
through co-operation, and that their efficiency and value 
are increased in proportion as the study is made common 
to all. There are many other results which an associa- 
tion of these societies may accomplish and which may 
be productive of good, not the least of which is that a 
■ fraternity of fraternities ' will be formed and the fra- 
ternal character of an organization will be more firmly 
fixed. 

" The following subjects are suggested as those which 
would be of the utmost interest, although the field of 
discussion may profitably be extended: First, the laws 
relating to co-operative association and the necessity of 
further legislation in aid of fraternal societies and the 
securing of uniform laws ; second, the discussion of 
means by which more perfect medical examinations may 
be secured, etc. ; and third, the general principles neces- 
sary to the successful carrying on of fraternal co- 
operative societies. Representatives of non-fraternal 
assessment associations are not eligible to membership." 

The convention was held according to this invitation, 
and besides the Ancient Order of United Workmen, in 
which the call originated, representatives were present 
from fifteen of the best known fraternal beneficiary so- 
cieties, representing a membership of over 500,000, 
and with outstanding life benefits amounting to 
$1,200,000,000. 

The meeting took the name of the National Fraternal 
Congress, and adopted as its objects: 

" The permanently uniting of all legitimate fraternal 
benefit societies for purposes of mutual information, 
benefit, and protection/' It resolved upon a basis of 
representation, and declared that " no fraternal society, 
order, or association shall be entitled to representation 



164 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

in this congress unless the said society, order, or associa- 
tion works under a ritual, holds regular lodge or similar 
meetings, and pays endowment moneys to the bene- 
ficiaries of its deceased members." 

It resolved upon annual meetings " on the third Tues- 
day of November, at such place as may be selected," and 
such meetings have been held with increasing representa- 
tion and interest. 

In 1896 forty-three Fraternities were represented at 
the Tenth Annual Congress, which was held at Louisville, 
Ky., in a three-days' meeting. They represented an 
aggregate membership of 1,587,859, and had paid out 
during the year for life benefits the sum of $28,034,855, 
and since organization the sum of $231,043,180, and had 
benefit certificates in force to the amount of $3,026,- 
545,042. Their net increase of membership during the 
year had been 165,544. 

The Congress of 1902 was attended by representatives 
of sixty societies, with an aggregate beneficial member- 
ship of 3,672,120, of whom 661,739 had been received 
during the last year, with a net increase of membership 
of 314,313. The outstanding certificates amounted to 
$5,642,443,256.78, and the annual distribution of benefits 
was more than $52,500,000. 



WHOLESOME COUNSELS 

BY THE COMMITTEE ON STATISTICS AND ON THE GOOD OF 

THE ORDERS TO THE NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS, 

DETROIT, MICH., AUGUST, I9OI. 

The record clearly demonstrates that those institutions 
which are most truly " of the people," and in which the 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 165 

voice and influence of the membership is most potent, are 
the ones that have the largest following and that are 
making the greatest progress, even though at times they 
may appear to be advancing along unsafe lines, and there- 
fore only inviting future trouble. 

The past year has also presented further evidence of 
the fact, often stated in these reports as well as in other 
papers read before this body, that proper plans, a safe 
financial basis, and good management are as essential to 
the success and perpetuity of a Fraternal Beneficiary 
Order as to a bank, a mercantile house, or a railroad cor- 
poration, and that the absence of these will prove as fatal 
to the one as to the other. It would be unreasonable to 
expect any other result, hence the occasional failure or 
the re-organization of an Order that has been a member 
of this Congress does not now create any great com- 
motion, or disturb to any great extent the confidence of 
our members. There is always a good and sufficient 
reason for such conditions, easily and readily ascertained. 
Thus far every Order that has met with reverses has 
• been able to trace them either to the timidity of leaders or 
to the lack of knowledge, and hence timely appreciation 
of their own situation on the part of the membership. 

The system, as a whole, has been a great success, but 
'failures we have had, failures we will have. What line 
of business is immune to failure? When one of our 
great banking institutions, depositories of the savings of 
the people, fails, and the people lose their accumulations 
of years, it does not affect the banking business generally. 
People do not, on that account, lose faith in banks. They 
know that such failures are the result of bad manage- 
ment and not the fault of the system itself, and are gov- 
ened accordingly. So do all fair-minded and intelligent 
people now look upon the failure or re-organization of a 



166 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Fraternal Beneficiary Order, and even at the worst, when 
such an Order absolutely fails, it is only a small part of 
its members who really lose — those who, by reason of age 
or physical infirmity, may be unable to secure protection 
elsewhere. They have lost no money. They have had 
value received, and more too, for all they have paid. In 
fact, where failure has resulted, it has been in every case 
because the Order gave more than it should have given 
for what it received. Such a course can only result in 
disaster. 

Let it be said to the credit of the men and women who 
have managed the Fraternal Beneficiary Orders thus far, 
that so far as the simple administration of the affairs of 
their respective Orders is concerned, as provided in the 
laws, they have proven themselves worthy and well quali- 
fied, and with the record of thirty-three years of this work 
before us we can say, in simple justice to them, there 
have been but very few found who were unfaithful to 
their trust, who were dishonest or criminal in their man- 
agement. Their mistakes have been rather the out- 
growth of their enthusiasm, their lack of knowledge of. 
the science of fraternal protection, and a full appreciation 
of the fact that probable receipts must equal probable 
liabilities. 

Most of those who are to-day charged with the respon- 
sibilities of management of these Orders are fully alive 
to the importance and need of good and sound business 
methods, and, not content to know these things them- 
selves, they are boldly and fearlessly proclaiming these 
facts to their members. They are becoming, as they should 
be, leaders as well as managers, and it is the firm con- 
viction of your committee that the future stability, utility, 
and perpetuity of these Orders rests now, more than 
ever before, in the hands of these leaders and managers. 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 167 

They have the power and should assume the duty of edu- 
cating their members in relation to these great and most 
important questions. Realizing the power in their hands, 
the sacred trust committed to their care, the confidence 
reposed in their fidelity to every duty, while we are 
appalled with the magnitude of their responsibility, we 
look forward with a faith born of our confidence in their 
honesty of purpose to the day when no finger of doubt 
will be pointed at the soundness of any recognized Fra- 
ternal Beneficiary Order — when their financial strength 
will be as great as their work is now conceded to be 
beneficent and commendable. When that day comes, as 
come it will, it will be through the influence, the courage, 
the patience, and the persistence of these noble men and 
women, the managers of this great movement. In the 
establishment of this work upon a safe, equitable, and 
enduring basis, as similar work is now established in 
Great Britain, they will have done a great work to their 
own glory and the lasting advantage of mankind. 

The Orders here represented paid for management ex- 
penses last year $4,628,581, or at the rate of $1.05 per 
$1000 of the average protection in force. On a per 
capita, basis it cost $1.71. This is an increase of eight 
cents per $1000 and 13 cents per capita over that of 1899, 
and indicates the tendency to greater expense of man- 
agement incident to, if not made absolutely necessary 
by, competition, which the Orders must now meet. We 
do not refer to the competition of life insurance com- 
panies, that now amounts to little or nothing, but rather 
to the competition of our sister Orders ; and when it 
is understood that there were admitted to the Fraternal 
Beneficiary Orders of America last year nearly 700,- 
000 new members, it will be understood that there must 



168 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

have been fierce competition, such as might almost be 
called " a mad rush for new business." 

Where will it end? To what pass will it bring us? 
The fixed charges for salaries, rent, clerk hire, etc., show 
a considerable decrease per capita as well as per $1000 
of protection in force. Where, then, does the increase 
arise? Wholly in connection with the field work, the 
procuring of new business. Only a few years ago nearly 
every Order represented in the Congress collected some- 
thing in the way of a membership fee from new members, 
and these fees helped to defray field work expenses, and 
then nearly all our deputies worked on a commission 
basis, but this is now all changed. It is the exception 
to find a " field worker " on a commission basis alone, 
while there is scarcely a pretense any longer on the part 
of many of the Orders of collecting any membership 
fee, and those that do try to collect it are always ready 
and apparently willing to " meet all competition/' 

In this connection it has come to the notice of your 
committee that this competition has not been simply 
fierce generally, but in some cases very unfair, because 
of the fact that some of the Orders use a certain number 
of the assessments first paid by new members, the num- 
ber varying in different Orders, for the purpose of com- 
pensating their deputies who secure the new members. 
In this way they are able, apparently, to do away with 
all membership fees, and yet the new member is paying 
such fee, only in installments. The unfairness arises 
from the fact that the new member doesn't know this, 
and that even the old members do not understand it thor- 
oughly. We do not believe the practice a good one or 
one that should have the approval of this Congress. We 
believe that one member should pay on the same basis as 
another toward defraying management expenses, whether 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 169 

it be on a per capita tax, expense basis, or that of a 
percentage of assessments, and that whatever he must 
pay for his membership at the outset should be kept 
distinct from all contributions for the benefit funds ; that 
a different rule is not only unfair in competition, but 
deceptive and dangerous in practice. 

While it is true that expense of management, as a 
whole, is increasing among these Orders, it still remains 
a fact that they furnish protection at vastly less expense 
than any other system known, and that the increase in 
such expense is not so great with them as with the life 
insurance companies. Our business as a whole is car- 
ried on with less expense than any other similar business 
in this country. 

This fact should be impressed upon the minds of our 
members at all times, each member should be made fully 
acquainted with the fact that the laws as they existed at 
the time his membership began and which then formed 
a part of his contract, both written and oral, were made 
by the membership and that they can only be changed 
by the membership, acting through their duly constituted 
agents or representatives, and that all such changes are 
as binding upon him, as much a part of his contract, as 
though he had personally consented thereto. Herein is 
the very essence and virtue of " representative form of 
government/' which Orders affiliated with this Congress 
must possess. When the members are fairly and fully 
instructed on this point we w r ill experience much less 
trouble in making needed changes in our laws which 
increase their annual contributions. 

We must also get away from the notion that " cheap- 
ness " is the main consideration to be sought. While it 
will and should always be the aim of these Orders to 



17° THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

furnish protection without unnecessary cost, and with as 
little expense as may be consistent with security and 
stability, yet we are unwise and shortsighted, to say the 
least, when we trifle with or neglect to be governed by 
the well-known laws of mortality and sound and con- 
servative business management in the conduct of the 
affairs committed to our trust. 

In England the best of the fraternal societies collect 
more for death and sickness benefits than do the business 
organizations. 

The High Chief Ranger of the Ancient Order of 
Foresters, at the meeting of the High Court in 1899, 
thus voiced the sentiment in Britain concerning " cheap- 
ness " : 

" The word ' cheapness ' should never find place in the 
lexicon of any friendly society ; those societies that pre- 
tend to provide benefits at charges less than our own and 
other societies with similar tables are creating difficul- 
ties for themselves and misleading those whom they 
invite to become members. I am led to make these 
observations because I know it is said in some quarters 
that there is trouble experienced in obtaining new mem- 
bers owing to the enforcement of the tables prepared 
for us by Mr. Nieson, the eminent actuary, and based by 
him on our own sickness and mortality experience. I 
would impress upon you the fact that those are the 
lowest tables that can be used with safety; and I think 
it ought to be generally known that we are determined 
not to have our Order associated with any shoddy or 
risky methods of finance." 

The protection furnished by the Fraternal Societies is 
so complete that it is beyond and above any other, and 
its permanency and security should not be jeopardized 
by cheapness. The Ancient Order of Foresters and the 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 17 1 

Manchester Unity are not " cheap societies," and yet they 
are the largest in the world. They attract and hold 
members by the complete protection granted in the 
social, fraternal, and business aspects. 

•Such should be the policy of the Orders here affiliated. 
The interests committed to their care are too great, too 
sacred, and come too near to the very citadel of Amer- 
ican citizenship, involving as they do the protection of 
so many American homes, to permit of any other con- 
sideration, and your committee is of the opinion that 
every Order represented here is in full sympathy with 
such a policy, even though we may not all think alike as 
to the best methods to be pursued. We all want to see 
the substantial and permanent growth of the system, and 
we want to feel when we are closing our account with 
these Orders, as individual members, that the seeds we 
helped to plant have not only taken root and grown to 
such proportions that we and our loved ones have 
received some measure of their protection, but that they 
are destined to become as giant oaks of the forest, rear- 
ing their lofty heads high in the air, defying the storms 
and blasts that beat against them, and spreading their 
ample folds of gentlest, surest, and completest protection 
over millions of homes yet to be. As such will these 
Orders be worthy of the high purpose for which they 
were established. 



272 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

FRATERNITY— THE LATEST MORAL FORCE 
An Address 
by wallace thayer, esq., of buffalo, n. y. 

I am ignorant of the whole vast science of insurance 
and fraternity organizations. I can only view from afar 
those magnificent structures which the brain and the 
conscience of this age have erected for the benefit of 
mankind. I cannot estimate the genius which has 
planned this work, nor the architectural skill with which 
it has been molded. I can only view it as one of the 
forces for good which are transforming the spirit of the 
age. I can only look upon mutual benefit societies as 
separate bands in that great army which, unlike the 
crusaders of old, is bending its way, not toward the 
sepulcher of Christ, but toward His Holy Spirit. 

Was it Carlyle who said of us that we were a nation 
of shopkeepers ? Whoever said it, was it not until lately 
true, or did it not seem so, that the American could not 
look outside of or beyond the rim of the dollar ?— that all 
the higher qualities in life — love of country, love of home, 
love of humanity — were prostituted to money getting? 
Was it not true until lately that each one of us regarded 
our fellow human beings as mere obstructions and com- 
petitors on our path of progress upward, to be hurled 
aside — we to pass onward, leaving them to perish? 

What have been the forces that have led us to feel 
differently on the great moral and spiritual problems that 
confront mankind, that we no longer feel the brother, 
whom we meet in business, or who steps across our path, 
as an enemy to be hurled aside, but as a friend and 
fellow soldier, whose hand we are to grasp, and with 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 173 

whom we are to form, shoulder to shoulder, in the com- 
mon struggle against evil, against the forces of nature, 
and in the common advance toward the throne of God? 

The first great transformation of society in America, 
the first great force to turn men from money getting 
to the profounder facts of life, was undoubtedly our late 
Civil War. In the poetry and in the martial music which 
accompanied that mighty conflict a new spirit arose. 
When men voluntarily left the workshop and the plow, 
the store and the office, the fireside and the home— kissed, 
for the last time, those who were dearer than life itself, 
and amid tears and the prayers of their loved ones 
marched forth to do and to die for their country — to save 
their homes, and to save their nation — then the first exalt- 
ing influence was felt. 

If we were to enumerate the forces which have lifted 
men upward, so that we are no longer that nation of shop- 
keepers, we shall have next to consider the church and 
religion. Be we disbelievers, sectarians, or skeptics, we 
cannot but appreciate that the worship of and the com- 
munion with the Supreme Being is the most exalting and 
the most ethical force known in human society. We 
cannot but know that the moral influence of the church, 
from the magnificent peal of the great organ to the tender 
notes of the youngest child lisping its simple melody; 
from the prayer, the ceremony, even the decoration — the 
whole atmosphere of the church — goes out to ennoble 
and elevate mankind. 

What is the next force that has lifted men upward? 
■ Shall we not say the home, the common love of the family, 
that most sacred of all human relations — parent and child, 
husband and wife? She whom you worshiped from afar, 
emblazoned in the romance of courtship, now brought to 
your own home, the ministerer to your wants, the solacer 



174 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

of your spirit, your helpmate and support, the mother of 
your children — her influence is no less sacred than the 
influence of the church. And the children, those little 
flowers blossoming in this garden and growing to full 
bloom, nursed and attended by you, bursting into blossom 
and reaching maturity under your eye, to enter the new 
generation as you have reared and nourished them, cer- 
tainly these two — wife and children — for they give the 
spirit to the home, these two are the next influences for 
good. 

But have we counted all? Have we yet transformed 
man from the shopkeeper to the man walking in the Spirit 
of Christ ? Nay, there must be something that binds men 
together in business and in society, that transforms them, 
as they jostle against each other in the fierce conflict of 
competitive life, from the demoralized mob striking at 
each other, seizing the crumbs of life from each other's 
mouths, to this army, this new crusade, stepping heaven- 
ward. 

I count our brotherhoods as this power. These 
organizations, the lodges, the brotherhoods of mankind, 
are the last great forces which have changed our people, 
and which are changing our people from time-servers 
into God-servers. When men in fierce conflict after the 
goods of this world, a conflict barbarous and selfish, leave 
off struggling for a few hours in a week or a month, and 
join together in the lodge, for the common good, each to 
give something for the benefit of the other, or the whole, 
then man has ceased to live for himself alone and recog- 
nizes his brotherhood with his fellow and the common 
Father of us all. 

What a beautiful thought it is, too, that these great 
unions have sprung from the common people, are not 
handed down from some beneficent despot, nor given to 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 175 

us by the aristocracy of thought, but are the creatures of 
our own Christ-like impulses? The common people 
gather together in their lodges, in their brotherhoods of 
any kind, to serve one another, and in serving one another 
to serve themselves. This is 1776 projected into 1896. 
This is the New Democracy. This is the last step in that 
evolution which began with the Declaration of Independ- 
ence ; which developed through the dismal struggle of the 
French Revolution ; which found voice in the revolutions 
which have agitated Europe for the last hundred years, 
and which finally finds peaceful expression in these volun- 
tary unions. 

Among these unions can I rank any as high as the 
mutual benefit society? That society, whose object is not 
alone the betterment of trade — the improvement of wages 
— although those objects would be high, but whose motive 
is wholly and solely to relieve the burdens of mankind? 
That society which is organized solely to lift up the 
brother who has fallen ; to give aid to him who is in dis- 
tress ; to watch by the sick bed of him who lies low ; to 
cherish and to give comfort to those whom he has left ; to 
pay the last sad tribute to him who has gone beyond, and 
to give bountifully to the widow and the children that the 
departed brother has left behind? 

How different is this Christ-like organism from the 
cold, lifeless, barren institution of common insurance — 
that creature, selfish in its organization, coldly legal and 
cruelly technical in its administration, self-profiting, and 
soulless in its treatment of its members ! How different 
from such an institution is our beloved Alma Mater, for- 
ever extending the helping hand, voluntarily; always 
relieving the distressed ; entering the home as a beloved 
presence ; standing by the grave in tears, over the loved 
one fallen ; opening the hand in generosity, and in love, 



I7& THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

for the bereaved mother or father, wife or child, giving 
as it is able to give ? 

We shall not be technical in the conduct of our Order ; 
we shall not take advantage of those low, legal quibbles 
too commonly the helpers of selfish institutions. Our 
policy shall be broad and liberal — Christ-like in charity — 
God-like in justice. It shall be the moral law, and not 
the civil law, that shall govern us. 

Yet we fully recognize at this late day, after a genera- 
tion of experience received from other organizations that 
have gone before, that this edifice, beautiful and inspiring 
as it is, with its great spire pointing heavenward, and the 
broad shelter of its roof shielding the brotherhood below 
— that this, like every other architectural triumph, must be 
built upon scientific principles. What we plead for is 
that the science shall be a philosophy broad as the philos- 
ophy of love ; not a bundle of arbitrary rules to cheat and 
pauperize. We have, in erecting this edifice, consulted 
the engineer and the architect; it is secured by all the 
safeguards, the props, and the supports which the science 
of finance and banking have provided. And thus 
founded, thus erected, our spire points heavenward, 
toward a higher humanity. This spire lifts us all upward, 
and that tabernacle — our home, our lodge — where we 
clasp our brother by the hand, and from which we go 
forth to give to our brother in distress, this new church, 
this last and noblest influence, leading mankind heaven- 
ward, this we adore, and of this I delight to speak. 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 177 

FRATERNAL LIFE INSURANCE 
A Sermon 

BY M. A. MATTHEWS, D. D., SEATTLE, WASH. 
II. Kings xx. i : " Set thine house in order." 

In presenting to you the question of insurance, it be- 
comes necessary to lay down three propositions, or unfold 
to you a condition, the remedy, and the result. First, we 
are in a lamentable condition. This condition is a stub- 
born fact, presenting itself to every intelligent brain. It 
is not the creation of a pessimistic mind. The stubborn 
fact confronts the optimist and the pessimist alike, and 
the part of wisdom is to comprehend it and apply an 
adequate remedy. 

The condition is one of extravagance, recklessness, and 
carelessness. This is the most extravagant, reckless, and 
careless age of the world, in one sense of the word. It 
costs you more to live to-day than ever before. The com- 
bined forces are demanding all that a man possesses and 
all that a man is. 

This is the age of uncertainties. The wealthy man of 
to-day is the pauper of to-morrow, because of the rapidly 
changing circumstances. The heat and passion in which 
business is conducted preclude meditation, consideration, 
and deliberation ; and with electric rapidity the man makes 
his money, the man spends his money, the man rises, and 
the man falls. The social demands upon the man require 
of him and require of his family an extraordinary expend- 
iture of money. The disposition on the part of the people 
to keep up with each other is bankrupting thousands and 
thousands of men. The commercial and political condi- 



178 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

tion of the country, with the social and domestic extrava- 
gances of the hour, is making slaves of men, the degree 
and character of which have never been equaled. Every 
move, every muscle, and every part of the man is ten- 
sioned to the last possible extent. These tensioned cords 
are snapped every day, and the fortunes of men are being 
wrecked, the social structure is being undermined, fami- 
lies and children are being left paupers and pensioners 
upon the public bounty of a cold, phlegmatic, uncharitable 
world. These are stubborn facts, confronting each and 
every man who studies the condition of things. These 
things being true, the question that agitates the honest 
man is — How can I provide for my family, provide 
against encroachments upon their bounty and their future 
safety? He spends his time laboring for them. But 
little can be made and saved by any one man to-day. 
Men by honest labor make very little and save very little. 
The iniquitous and infamous trusts of the country are 
robbing them of their honest labor. Labor itself is cor- 
nered ; the things that labor must consume are cornered. 
The real net income on any labor and on any enterprise 
and on any legitimate output of money is so small that it 
is almost impossible for a man to accumulate much and 
leave to his children a competency. Investments are inse- 
cure, they are unsafe. Bonds depreciate, real estate fluc- 
tuates, banks collapse, and building and loan associations 
are consummate thieves. Where can a man put his 
money, even if it were possible for him to make it, so it 
will be handed down, uninterrupted and untrammeled, to 
his dependent children? 

I present to you this thought : I believe the remedy is 
to be found in a safe insurance policy. The brainy busi- 
ness man of the country, the wealthiest man of the land, 
side by side with the prudent, careful, honest toiler, have 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 179 

each and all arrived at the conclusion that the safest 
investment and provision for their wives and children is 
a well-protected insurance policy. They are taking out 
these policies — policies that cannot be attached by law; 
policies that cannot be affected by the changing condi- 
tions ; policies that cannot be stained by politics ; policies 
free, pure, heaven's blessings and earth's benedictions, 
handed direct to the orphaned children and to the wid- 
owed wife. The statements in my first proposition being 
true, it then becomes a man's duty to provide for his 
family. In fact no man has a right to take unto himself 
a wife unless he can see that in the natural course of 
events he can provide for her beyond her wants and 
suffering. No man has the right to bring into this world 
a child and lay it in the lap of the State and demand that 
the Sheriff become its nurse, the jail its nursery, and the 
public treasury its benefactor. No man has a right to 
bring into this world a child unless he has made an honest 
provision for its support, its deportment, and its educa- 
tion. In the course of business events it may be impos- 
sible for him to absolutely secure to that child all the com- 
forts and blessings he would like to bestow upon it, but 
it is possible for him to insure his life, and thereby secure 
to his wife comfort and happiness. It is possible for him 
to insure his life and make absolutely safe the comfort 
and protection of his dependent children. An insurance 
policy is a bridge across this yawning chasm of extrava- 
gance, recklessness, carelessness, and uncertainty. It 
becomes an honest man's duty to bridge this chasm in 
order that his dependent wife and suffering children may 
cross it in security and peace. 

Again, I call your attention to fraternal insurance. I 
believe in it. I believe in anything that will righteously 
draw men together and teach the great idea of brother- 



180 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

hood, humanity, helpfulness, and divine kindness. I 
believe in old-line insurance. I have policies in the 
best old-line companies. So I have policies in several 
fraternal orders ; and I took policies in fraternal insur- 
ance because they teach the idea of brotherhood, of 
friendship, of charity, of confidence, of kindness, and 
love; of personal, hand-to-hand contact with a man in 
his sufferings and in his sorrows. I am in these fraternal 
insurance orders and many other fraternal orders because 
they bring to my personal attention and lay upon my 
personal heart the woes, sorrows, and pains of the indi- 
vidual man, the individual woman, the individual child. 
They preserve the identity of the individual, and the 
suffering of the individual becomes the specific object to 
which the love, friendship, and brotherliness of every 
man in the order are directed. When you pay a policy 
in a fraternal order, each and every member of that fra- 
ternal order shares the sorrow and participates in the 
relief rendered. I would like to help every suffering 
man, woman, and child in the world, and if I could bring 
each into the influence of these God-blessed orders I 
would do it. If I could go in every home where the table 
is bare, the hearthstone cold, and the room bleak and 
uncomfortable, and put upon the table the common cover- 
ing, and on it a substantial meal, and in the fire-place 
warmth and cheer, and in that family room the music, 
love, and domestic comfort necessary, I would be the 
happiest man in the world. I would rather be able to do 
that for suffering humanity than to be Emperor of all the 
empires of the world. 

Therefore, I will become a member of these orders, and 
as an infinitesimal part of these great organizations, 
through my contribution month after month, I will go 
into these bleak and uncomfortable homes, leave in each 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 181 

the sustenance and protection which an insurance policy 
from the hands of friendship, brotherly love, and kindness 
can bestow. 



DON'T FORGET THOSE WHO GAVE US 
FRATERNITY 

From an Address 

by w. l. morgan, boston, mass. 

When the history of Fraternity is written the most 
praise, honor, and blessings ought to be given to those 
hardy pioneers who blazed the first trails when the idea 
was young. They knew what hardships were, but with 
courage and persistence which knew not defeat they 
advanced, compelling the people to accept what they had 
to offer by demonstrating its true worth. 

They were the advance guard of the true brotherhood 
of man; the forerunners of generations yet unborn who 
were to reap the reward of their labors. If they were 
farseeing they must have felt that they were helping to 
lay the foundation of that which must become a blessing 
to every home, whose influence, once felt, none can bear 
to be separated from. 

Fraternity is a magnet which attracts because of its 
equality, mercy, helpfulness, and charity ; the more we 
know about it the greater our praise. Its influence is 
of such a nature we cannot resist the slightest opportunity 
to proclaim its virtues. It is the same kind and quality 
that causes the dweller by the sea to long for the sound 
of its waters if he wanders far from them, or the man 
born and reared within the shadows of the mountain 



1 82 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

ranges who returns to them again and again, lured thither 
by some mysterious influence he cannot overcome — to 
him the hills are dear; they hold memories which time 
cannot efface. 

To us who know by close acquaintance the benevo- 
lence, tenderness, and readiness of which fraternity is the 
exponent and how it has been the means of keeping 
homes intact, giving to widows and orphans the means 
which they so greatly need, causing countless prayers to 
go up from homes it has brightened, it is small wonder 
that we give praise to those who gave birth to the idea, 
who nourished and watched it through its infancy, saw it 
grow stronger and stronger each succeeding year,, until 
it reached its majority, when it was able to grapple suc- 
cessfully with any who might strive to check its progress 
in its magnificent and glorious march upward and onward, 
scattering deeds of kindness, offering a helping hand, 
giving assistance to its living members, making better 
citizens, opening pathways of plenty, clothing and edu- 
cating children, making the last years of some aged father 
or mother comfortable — last, but pre-eminently not least, 
bringing together its members twice a month in har- 
monious meetings, where business, social features, and 
entertainments vie with refreshments and cigars in 
proving to the members, if not to the world, that we 
don't have to die to win. 

We deem it but just and right that one day each year 
should be given up to the celebration or glorification of 
those who made possible Fraternity. Regardless of 
orders, let all join hands, engage a suitable meeting place, 
name the committee whose duties it would be to carry 
out this yearly event. It matters not to what order one 
belongs ; the same spirit prompted you to become a wor- 
shiper at the shrine of Fraternity. Such gatherings 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 183 

would tend to weld more closely the bonds of love, 
mercy, equality, and charity and demonstrate to the world 
the magnitude of Fraternity. The expense would not be 
large, ten cents a member would cover the entire cost, 
and who would complain at that price, when the pleasure 
and honor of actual participation in the event would be 
assured, and the reward of seeing our beloved organiza- 
tion honored by being paraded before the readers of the 
public press? We know the good deeds performed by 
Fraternity; let the world know about them, that it may 
better understand and appreciate them. What nobler 
acts, or greater eradication of suffering, can one find than 
those which Fraternity accomplishes? 
/ In addressing the meeting of the National Fraternal 
Press Association recently in Washington, D. C, Presi- 
dent Roosevelt said : " In working out the problems that 
confront our nation we must depend wholly upon the 
sentiments which actuate and pervade your Fraternities, 
namely, the brotherhood of man and the sacredness of 
American home life. The Fraternal societies represented 
by your association are, in my opinion, one of the 
greatest powers for good government and the protection 
of the home that we have in this country. This govern- 
ment will endure just so long as we protect the great 
interests represented in your orders." 

The Temple of Fraternity which is to be erected at the 
Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis, Mo., is the 
first in the history of the world, and it would be a proud 
moment in the lives of those who gave Fraternity to the 
world could their eyes behold the word " Fraternity " in 
letters of gold above the doors of pearl of this temple. 

Since the beginning of practical Fraternalism in the 
country thirty years ago there have been $515,000,000 
distributed to beneficiaries, and the good work goes on 



1 84 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

at the rate of one million dollars per *week ; its member- 
ship numbers over six millions, and about twenty-four 
million beneficiaries are represented. This stands out in 
bold relief as compared with any business proposition 
which has ever been presented to the people ; the magni- 
tude of their transactions is a surprise to the members 
themselves and the wonder of the business world. 

And what has made possible this grand demonstration ? 
First, those good and true men who conceived the idea of 
Fraternity and had the courage to offer the same to a 
public who was skeptical about its success; second, the 
members, without whose steady and consistent though 
relatively infinitesimal contributions to the W. and O. B. 
Fund the former could not well have succeeded; 
third, the members who have without remuneration 
worked to extend the sheltering arms of the organization 
to which they belonged, never tiring or losing a single 
opportunity to proclaim the virtues of Fraternity at all 
times and under every circumstance. Their endeavors 
have been crowned with success, and the shielding arms 
of a beloved and honored Fraternity have been afforded 
to many a home that would have never felt its help but 
for those appreciative members who are proud to wear 
a button which demonstrates to the world their affiliation 
with some fraternal order. 

The happiness and contentment which go hand in hand 
with such orders cannot be estimated by mere dollars and 
cents, but. only by true brotherly love and the ready sacri- 
fice which is ever apparent. Show us an active member 
of a fraternal order and we will show you an unselfish, 
self-sacrificing, home-loving husband and father, an 
honor to the commonwealth in which he lives— a man 
we are proud to extend our hand to and call brother. 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 185 

FRATERNAL SOCIETIES 
Their Origin and History 

by b. j. kline. 

The origin and history of fraternal beneficial societies 
is an interesting study. 

Whether Germany or Rome is their birthplace, or 
whether either is solely, is doubtful. 

Some authorities think they originated in slightly dif- 
ferent forms, independently of foreign influence, nearly 
or about the same time in both countries. In Germany 
and the Netherlands they were called guilds, while in 
southern Europe they were known as confraternities or 
collegia. 

These early societies seem to have exercised some 
functions not strictly pertaining to the modern ideas of a 
brotherhood and mutual protection. The maintenance 
of a brotherhood for protection and mutual assistance 
was a feature in both countries, but only one of the 
objects for which they w T ere maintained. For a time at 
least they seem also to have been entitled in northern 
Europe to representation in governmental affairs, be- 
coming later the Saxon hundreds. At first, in both 
countries, they seem also to have partaken somewhat of 
the nature of the trades unions of our times. Each call- 
ing, trade, or occupation had its guilds, whose members 
seem to have resided in a particular part of the towns ; 
thus the soap-makers in the particular section or w r ard, 
and the salt-makers in some other, and thus each city 
was divided into many settlements of kindred callings. 

The early Germans formed associations for mutual 



1 86 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

protection against accidents by fire, water, and other mis- 
adventures, as well as for social purposes. 

In Italy and Gaul many of these associations were 
formed for good fellowship, some for religious purposes 
and others to provide for burial, but the most important 
were formed for trades and manufacturers. In Rome 
the collegia were mostly composed of the poorer classes, 
but in the provinces of Italy wealthy tradesmen and 
nobles were members. 

Each guild or confraternity chose its own officers, 
made its own internal laws, and discussed matters of 
common interest and paid contributions to a common 
fund, and at the foundation of all lay social equality. 
The German guild and the Roman confraternity were 
much alike, and it is claimed for them that not only are 
they the pioneers of fraternalism combined with mutual 
protection, but that in them we find the original of many 
institutions of the middle ages and later times. 

Generally, each of the guilds maintained its hospital 
and herberg, or call house, where its public documents 
were preserved. Each society was presided over by a 
deken elected by the members, but usually this official 
was not a member. Each guild had its own tribunal, 
from whose decision there was no appeal. 

By the fourteenth century these societies had become 
so numerous that 52 were maintained at Bruges and 59 
at Ghent. The guild houses are said to have been much 
like our modern club houses, where social equality is the 
standard of admission. 

The careful reader will note much in these early lodges 
like our modern institutions of that name. It is true 
that they are dissimilar in many things, just as the 
society of the present time is in many things unlike the 
first of the modern distinctly fraternal beneficial societies. 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 187 

The Saxons first introduced these societies into Eng- 
land, where in early times, before the Reformation, they 
became quite numerous as social guilds. In the county 
of Norfolk it is said there were 900. Subsequently in 
England they came to be known as friendly societies, and 
usually, without further investigation, these English so- 
cieties are declared the original of our modern fraternals. 
In England these early friendly societies have changed 
form, first giving sick, funeral, and disability benefits, and 
later death benefits. 

Two of these English societies are quite or over 200 
years of age, while there are over 80 others formed be- 
fore the beginning of the nineteenth century, ranging in 
age from about ioo^ years to 150. One of these English 
societies has a membership of over 900,000, or more than 
three times as many as the Maccabees, while another has 
a membership of over half a million. In England there 
are 10,755 °f these societies, with a membership of over 
7,000,000. The average cost there is $10 per year per 
$1000 of benefits. Among the leading English societies 
are the Defoe Benefit, the Hand in Hand, the Mutual 
Brothers of London, the Charitable Society, the Equita- 
ble, Amicable, and others. Royal Arcanum Bulletin. 



FRATERNITY AND CHRISTIANITY 

Various causes contributed to the decline of chivalry 
in the old world, but the germ and bud of true chivalry 
was destined to be transmitted to the western civilization 
and blossom out into numerous fraternal organizations. 
Just as Christianity gave to the world an ideal manhood 
which it was to strive to realize, so does the true chivalry 



1 88 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCC ASTON • 

hold up an ideal to which men are to conform their lives. 
Men have never perfectly realized either the ideal 
Christianity or that of chivalry; but the influence which 
these two ideals have had in shaping and giving char- 
acter to the lives of men cannot be estimated. The en- 
thusiasm and effort awakened for their realization have 
produced a new type of manhood which we indicate by 
the phrase, " a knightly and Christian character." True 
chivalry and Christianity are inseparable. The fraternal 
societies of America are the flowers of noblest chivalry ; 
they are based upon the principles of protection, friend- 
ship, and charity. The true knight does not go where 
men are carving monuments of marble to perpetuate 
names which will not live in our ungrateful memories. 
The knight does not go to the dwellings of the rich ; he 
does not go to the palaces of the kings, or hover, around 
the halls of merriment and pleasure. The true knight 
goes to the poor and helpless. He goes to the widow and 
relieves her of her woe. He goes to the orphan and 
speaks words of comfort. He protects the defenseless 
and raises up the fallen. 

Wherever there is poverty, wretchedness, woe, sorrow, 
or despair, there are numerous opportunities for doing 
good and showering benedictions upon our fellow men. 
The fraternal societies of America reach multitudes that 
the church, as such, would never reach. 

These are true kings and queens, heroes and heroines, 
who, folding a pall of tenderest memory over the faces 
of their own lost hopes and perished loves, go with un- 
faltering courage to battle with the future, to strengthen 
the weak, to comfort the weary, to hang sweet pictures 
of faith and trust in the silent galleries of sunless lives, 
and to point the desolate, whose paths wind ever among 
the shadows and over rocks where never the green moss 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 189 

grows, to the golden heights of the hereafter, where the 
palms of victory wave. 

All honor to the fraternal societies, and may they yet 
gather more fragrant blossoms from the dew-bathed 
meadows of social life to spread their aroma along the 
toil-worn road of life. 

The cornerstone of most fraternal societies is charity, 
that golden link which unites earth with heaven. Charity 
is the quintessence of philanthropy, the brightest star in 
the Christian diadem. It is an impartial mirror set in 
the frame of love, resting on equity and justice. It is 
the foundation and capstone of all Christian graces ; 
without it our religion is a body without a soul; our 
humanity a mere iceberg on the ocean of time. 

Exchange. 



FRATERNAL INSURANCE 

The plan of insurance and protection originated 
centuries ago — in fact, the first organizations, whatever 
they might call them, were formed for mutual protection 
in business, social, political, and religious circles. It 
rested w r ith the people in the last few hundred years to 
inaugurate and maintain associations and fraternal orders 
for protection of their loved ones in case of death. The 
success of these organizations is verified by history until 
to-day there are thousands of such organizations dis- 
tributing money for the protection of home and loved 
ones, and the good done cannot be estimated. It is the 
duty of everyone upon whom the future of a family de- 
pends to carry protection for them in case of death that 
they might have means to protect them and make them 
independent of friends, charitable institutions, or poor- 



19° THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

houses. I know of nothing greater, more sublime, than 
the love of parents for their children. I have stood be- 
side the grave and witnessed the last sad rites paid to 
loved ones, and have seen weeping children, and the poor 
loving wife with tear-stained face when she turned from 
that spot to the home probably mortgaged, and thought 
of the creditors with whom she would have to deal in 
so short a time, and I cannot think of words to express 
the sorrow, despair, and heartache that all this would 
cause; yet if that husband and father had held a cer- 
tificate in a good fraternal Order how different the result. 
Though turning from the grave with all the sorrow that 
is possible under such conditions, there would be a ray 
of hope, of thankfulness on the part of the lonely wife 
and mother when on returning to her home she could feel 
that money would be paid her to lift the mortgage, and 
with economy keep her and her children from want. I 
think if the incident above, which has often occurred, 
could be placed before the husband and father when full 
of energy, health, and happiness, and knowing the un- 
certainties of life, he would not hesitate to take out a 
certificate, and thereby know that should he die his 
family would have the protection they rightfully deserve. 
When he leads the blushing bride to the altar and takes 
the holy vows that forever make them one he takes upon 
himself the obligations which can only be met by one 
thing in life, and that is insurance. My religion may be 
at fault or I may be very enthusiastic in regard to the 
rights and duties of man, yet I think that The Grand 
Architect of the Universe would say to that brother : You 
have protected your family, you have fulfilled all the 
rights and duties to your family, your work is well done. 

L. S. M. in the Pathfinder. 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 191 



FRATERNALISM 

The noblest traits of character and the loftiest senti- 
ments of the human heart have at times been the objects 
of the most biting ridicule. Is it any wonder that people 
who are destitute of fraternal feeling should see in this 
sentiment nothing which would have a tendency to arouse 
in them a feeling of respect? 

But after all the cruelty, after all the ingratitude, after 
all the deceit and falsehood, after all the bitterness to be 
found in the world, there is a place in men's hearts for 
fraternity, there, is a tender belief in fraternalism. Suf- 
fering brings out the latent goodness of the heart 
sometimes, and a knowledge of the suffering of others 
brings into play many of the noblest passions, and sets in 
action the divine principles of brotherhood. 

There is never any ridicule but there is reverence to 
offset it. There is no bitterness that has not its counter- 
part of sweetness. As there exists contempt, so is there 
respect ; as deceit, treachery, envy, ingratitude, and all the 
brood of evil passions have infested the hearts and 
colored the actions of men all along the pathway of our 
race from the beginning to the present time, so, too, have 
there been honesty, loyalty, generous liberality, the 
deepest and most abiding gratitude, and all the nobler 
passions of man. 

Let us not for a moment think that our brother, who- 
ever he be, is inherently bad. Let us each one turn upon 
ourselves the most searching light, and thus try to detect 
the remaining unworthy passions, so that by finding them 
we may expel them. When we turn such light upon any 
of our fellows let us by that light endeavor to find some- 
thing within him to love, and not overlook every worthy 



I9 2 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

possession in our search for whatever of bad may be 
found in him. The fact is that we are very likely to find 
what we look for, and it is a wonder if the Master did 
not have this, also, in mind when He uttered that wonder- 
ful declaration to the effect that if we knock at the door 
it will be opened ; if we ask, it shall be given unto us. If 
we seek to find only bad in our fellow men, we shall often 
succeed ; if we earnestly endeavor to find out and dis- 
cover the good in others, we are often rewarded far be- 
yond any expectation. Let us, then, study the principles 
of fraternalism, and as we become more acquainted with 
them, let us be certain that we grow to practice them 
more in all our connection with our fellow-men. 

Our Goat. 



THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN 

Those passions of the human heart which tend to 
create heart-burnings and separation between man and 
man are in direct opposition to all the virtues which adorn 
the true man. 

Those passions of the human heart which tend to 
create love and sympathy and the desire to help our 
fellow-creatures are the acme of all true manhood. 

It is the first object of all fraternal orders to foster 
and practice the last, and to root out and overcome 
the first. Selfishness, envy, hatred, ingratitude ! How 
many sorrows, how many heart-aches, how many tears, 
have they not occasioned! How they sour their pos- 
sessor! How they shade and dwarf the real growth of 
the being who submits to them ! Did you ever stop to 
think about these passions? Selfishness is the mother of 
Envy and Hatred. Envy scowls and frowns if another 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 193 

enjoys what he has not. Hatred carries out the dark 
thoughts and wishes of Envy. Envy plans the crimes 
by the committing of which he seeks to avenge the 
wrongs and slights he imagines himself to have received 
from those about him who have been more successful 
through greater industry or better forethought; and 
Hatred, stronger and more desperate, carries out the 
plans and commits the crimes. But Ingratitude is even 
meaner than either of the others, for she will receive 
good gifts and rich blessings from those about her, and 
in return will rend and destroy the generous giver. Do 
you hear a member of the fraternities back-biting and 
abusing another member? If so, you may be sure he has 
not yet begun to know the meaning of the word " Fra- 
ternity." He may have taken the obligation, but not as 
an honest, earnest man. He may be a good member 
when all is well and as he would have it, but when the 
time comes which tries the heart and puts to test the 
truest and noblest attributes of our nature, he falls down 
and shows the world that he has an obligation the 
nature of which he had little if any conception. 

Buckeye Workman. 



CHARITY, THE KEYNOTE OF FRATERNALISM 

" Soft peace it brings wherever it arrives, 
It builds ever quiet— latent hope revives, 
Lays the rough path of nature smooth and even, 
And opens to each breast a little heaven." 

Charity flows only from a pure heart. Its reward is 
not coveted. It is a principle so deeply instilled by 
nature that in the child's first year we see the traces of it 



194 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

which later develop into greater deeds. It needs no 
trumpet to herald its approach, but all within its compass 
feels its soothing influence. Be charitable; look lightly, 
if possible, upon the faults of one who annoys you. Try 
to discern the causes leading up to these conditions, and 
sift therefrom the good intentions, and by constantly 
shedding some light upon this life you will bring it to a 
more expanded plane, and all unconsciously it will 
strengthen you as much. The face that reveals charity 
has character, moderation, and firmness in its every out- 
line. It looks upon life as a broad expanse, all kinds, 
circumstances, and conditions necessary, yet that holy 
principle, charity, being the dominant spirit, neutralizes 
these various conditions and makes it possible to bring 
them to the same standard. 

Are you cast down in life, disappointed in your hopes 
and endeavors? Don't you know of some one who has 
worse trials to bear than yourself? Let all that charity 
which has been pent up in your selfish heart go out to 
them, and after you have ministered to their wants, don't 
your own pale into utter insignificance? 

If you have trials that weigh upon you go to the home 
of sorrow or to the hospital, where the willing hand and 
the charitable heart are always needed. Turn the pillow 
for the sick mother, cheer the aged and infirm father, or 
tarry at the side of the little one whose pure, young life 
is racked with pain, and your own sorrow has van- 
ished. 

Charity is the real law of life. It brings heaven and 
earth just a little closer together. It cements the life of 
the young to that of the old. It is a part of every 
nature, and this brings man in every condition of life to 
the realization that others are dependent upon him. Let 
us lend our every moment to the building up of any 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 195 

method that may extend this great fraternal principle, 
and bring mankind into closer touch with the actual 
needs of his fellow-beings. The New Light. 



FRATERNITY AND PERMANENCY 

J. T. ROGERS, D. G. R. OF GA. 

Fraternity is demonstrated in history to be the most 
reliable basis for every form of human institution. In 
fact, it is the Government, the State, the Family. It 
means equity, economy, and permanency. It stimulates 
justice, frugality, and thrift; avoids luxury, extravagance, 
and fraud. Its death involves the death of kindness in 
the heart, of integrity in the soul, the miscarriage of 
God's greatest mandate to man. 

The oldest human institution existing is a fraternal 
Order — Masonry. 

The oldest American institution now existing is a fra- 
ternal Order — American Odd Fellowship. 

The only institutions in any country, independent of 
the State, that have attained the age of one hundred years 
are fraternal Orders. 

Rt. Hon. Wm. E. Gladstone said with reference to 
fraternal Orders : " You go into these societies to seek 
your own good through the good of others. Friendly 
Societies have become so important and telling a feature 
in the Constitution of English Society in its broadest and 
most fundamental part, that any account of this nation, 
of this people, to whom we rejoice to belong, would 
deserve no attention as a really comprehensive account 
if it excluded the element of such societies." 

As most of the secret beneficial Orders of America, 



196 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

having profited by the experience of centuries, are 
founded on a far more scientific and safe foundation, 
there can be no doubt that they can also endure for long 
centuries to come, and that the millions of present mem- 
bership will increase to tens of millions, that they will go 
forward fulfilling their missions and teaching all people 
the great lesson of helping themselves best by helping 
others most. 

The membership of French societies of this type is 
1,165,500. 

There are ninety odd Friendly Societies reporting to 
the Chief Registrar of the English Parliament, each more 
than one hundred years old, and comprising a member- 
ship of eight millions. 

The first fraternal insurance order established in this 
country is yet living and has a membership of four 
hundred thousand, and the second fraternal insurance 
Order established in this country is yet living. 

The Royal Arcanum was the third fraternal insurance 
Order established in America; it has about a quarter 
of a million members and is growing stronger every 
day. 

Never has there been a failure of a Fraternal Order 
with no limit to its membership and a reasonable limit to 
the benefit paid and when properly managed. 

These institutions are purely benevolent. They are 
infused with the heart and soul of thousands of generous 
men. They have never wronged a human being. Their 
mission is to console, comfort, and relieve. 



NATIONAL FRATERNAL CONGRESS 1 97 



FRATERNITY 

Fraternity is spreading over our broad land, and 
every city, town, village, and hamlet in every portion of 
our vast domain has one or more Fraternal Orders in its 
midst. The so-called secret society has no fears for any- 
one any longer. The term secret was a misnomer, 
applied to mystify the suspicious, and that these things 
are well understood, the good, honest word fraternal or 
beneficial has become most popular. About the only 
secrecy to any of the orders now are the signs, grips, 
initiatory work, and password, and these are necessarily 
secret in order to protect the membership from outside 
impostors, and to recognize each other in moments of 
need, when traveling, or in danger. So, after all, what 
may appear to some as a terrible trespass upon American 
rights is indeed a protection of our American liberties 
and the defender of our American homes. 

There is not a Fraternal Order to-day but recognizes 
God as the Supreme Ruler of the universe. And in our 
" land of the free and home of the brave " the constitu- 
tion and laws of the land are the foundation principles 
of every order. We are taught to respect the rights of 
our fellows, to wrong no man, to " render unto Caesar the 
things that are Caesar's" and do unto all men as we would 
they should do unto us. Fraternities teach us to protect 
each other, to guard the good names of a member's 
family and loved ones, to care for the sick, bury the 
dead, and educate the orphan. Can anyone desire 
more? 

The Mystic Mirror. 



198 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

A PROTECTED HOME 

Home is the sweetest word in the Saxon language. 
It has in it the brightness of sunshine and the fragrance 
of flowers. It suggests love, and rest, and gladness. It 
calls up pictures painted imperishably on our hearts. It 
speaks of fatherly care, and mother's love, and wife's 
tenderness and devotion. The home is the safeguard of 
the nation. 

It is a nursery where only can be grown manly men 
and womanly women. But into many homes there often 
steals a shadow of fear that darkens the sunlight and 
drops a bitterness into the cup of joy. It is the fear that 
the strong man, whose arm or brain wins the bread and 
creates the comfort of the family, may be smitten down 
by death. 

The majority of fathers find it almost impossible to 
lay aside sufficient from the yearly income to insure the 
family against adversity and possible want. Life is so 
insecure. The vigorous of to-day may be still in death 
to-morrow. What, then, can lighten the gloom of the 
widow's shrouded heart, the grief of the fatherless? It 
is then that a genuine, honest life insurance society steps 
in and does its work of beneficence. 

I tell you a man's steps are much lighter, his spirit 
more buoyant, as he goes out in the morning to his work 
if he knows, come what may, in his home lies a paper 
which secures his loved ones from poverty, and will bear 
them up until they are able to work for themselves. 

Rev. Dr. Wm. Lloyd. 



THE UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 

Historical. — This fraternal and benevolent society takes its 
name and nomenclature from the history of the Druids of 
ancient Gaul and Britain. They were the religious guides of 
the people, and the chief guardians and expounders of the law. 
They taught the immortality and transmigration of the soul, and 
held yearly assemblies, in which they are said to have offered 
human sacrifices. Their chosen retreats were groves of oaks, 
and the remains of their temples are circular cromlechs and 
dolmens of immense stones. They attained their greatest in- 
fluence in Britain shortly before the Roman invasion, during the 
last century before Christ. They were believed to have incited 
the patriotic revolt of the Britons against Roman rule, and Agri- 
cola, when Governor of Britain, cut down their sacred groves 
and destroyed their temples; when the Druids who escaped fled 
to the Island of Iona. Upon the conversion of the Britons to 
Christianity, Druidism became only a venerable memory and 
tradition. Its nomenclature and traditions form the picturesque 
background of the ceremonies of the modern order of fraternity 
and benevolence. 

The modern order was formed in England in 1781, and its 
centennial was celebrated in America by enthusiastic meetings 
and addresses in a number of cities. 

There have been some factional separations from the main 
body, which, however, has prospered, and reported in 1896 a mem- 
bership of 66,000, besides 18,000 in Australia. 

It was introduced into the United States about 1830, but the 
earliest society died out. A permanent beginning, however, was 
made in George Washington Lodge, No. 1, instituted in New 
York in 1839. The Order had reached in 1896 a total member- 
ship ^ in the United States of 17,000, and in Germany of 2000, 
making a grand total of 103,000. 

In the nomenclature of the Order the name Grove is used 
commonly as the name lodge in other orders, signifying a local 
body working under a regular dispensation. The higher body, 
which issues the dispensation, is called a Grand Grove, and 
different (State) Grand Groves are under the Supreme Grove, 
which is the head of the Order, though in full union with the 
Order in England, Australia, and Germany, with full power to 
make laws for its own government and for the government of its 
State, Grand, and Subordinate Groves. 

The Order is a moral, social, and beneficial society. Its prin- 
ciples do not conflict with any of the established systems of 

199 



200 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

religion, and are perfectly compatible with the peace and welfare 
of the State. No oaths are administered by the Order binding 
its members to any creed or faction. Its object is to unite men 
together, irrespective of nation, tongue, or creed, for mutual pro- 
tection and improvement; to assist socially and materially by 
timely counsel and instructive lessons ; by encouragement in busi- 
ness, and assistance to obtain employment when in need ; and to 
foster among its members the spirit of fraternity and good 
fellowship. Its well-regulated system of dues and benefits pro- 
vides for the relief of the sick and destitute, the burial of the 
dead, and the protection of the widows and orphans of deceased 
members. 

Members of subordinate Groves must be males o_f eighteen 
years and upwards, of sound health and character, and are elected 
on the proposal of members. 

To promote the prosperity of the Order and cultivate the per- 
fection of its members, Druidic Chapters have been organized. 
All members of the Order in good standing, who have attained 
the third degree, are eligible. 

In order to provide women relatives an opportunity to par- 
ticipate in the benevolent work, Circles have been established, 
to which Druids in good standing and all acceptable women 
eighteen years of age are eligible. 

The Order is firmly established in twenty-three of the United 
States and in England, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, Australia, and 
Germany. 

The approximate totals of membership in 1900 are given as 
follows: In Great Britain and Ireland, 70,000; in the United 
States and Canada, 20,000; in Australia, 20,000; in Germany, 
2000; a total of 112,000. 

The centennial of the Order was celebrated with great en- 
thusiasm in 1881, with interesting addresses and other exercises 
in Chicago, 111. ; New Orleans, La. ; St. Louis, Mo. ; St. Paul 
and Minneapolis, Minn., and other cities. 

Several of these addresses we are able to give hereafter. 



CENTENNIAL ORATION* 

BY MOST NOBLE GRAND ARCH WM. A. SCHMITT. 

Brethren and Friends: I do not lay the " flattering 
unction to my soul " that you have invited me, an humble 
brother, to be with you to-day, in connection with the 

*At the Centennial Celebration, Chicago, 111. 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 201 

festivities of this centennial celebration, for any merit 
possessed above others ; but rather attribute such invita- 
tion to the fact that I am, by the unanimous suffrage of 
the representatives of the Order, in National Biennial 
Convention assembled, at Brooklyn, N. Y., in August 
last, now occupying the office of greatest honor that can 
be bestowed by the United Ancient Order of Druids. I 
regret that the choice for an occupant of the position 
I am to fill here has not fallen upon some brother more 
capable of filling it with credit to himself and pleasure 
to you. 

One scarcely realizes what is meant by the term " a 
century." The hundred years are filled with the growths 
of 36,500 days of activities which have shown, in the 
epoch closing for us to-day, through the upturning of 
empires, the upheavals of systems, the wonderful ad- 
vancement of inventions, the progress of civilizations, and 
the readjustment and establishment of scientific princi- 
ples. 

Since the organization of the Druids on its present 
basis, in 1781, the power of steam has bowed to man's 
will, and has become his obedient servant; the jagged 
lightning has been conquered and transformed into the 
willing Puck " that puts a girdle round the earth in 
forty minutes " ; but, greater and better than all, blessed 
humanitarian growths have been had, as illustrated in 
the invention of anaesthesia, by which bodily suffering 
is done away ; the name " slave " has been blotted out 
from the languages, and a system of mercy has been 
inaugurated all over the world of civilized men. 

But these great matters, that have made years of prog- 
ress of the months of this century, grow, multiplied by 
details, so that they must be reckoned by hours as we 
count up the blessings which have come of such a society 



202 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

as this, established for the amelioration of suffering in 
individual instances. The one hundred years of Druidic 
work, which we come to celebrate to-day, mean the kind- 
nesses and helps in cases of personal needs and in the 
details of special wants. They were helps of the hours 
of keen distresses, and who doubts that each hour has 
seen someone blessing the Order for a help rendered. 
It means 876,000 hours and that vast number of kind- 
nesses done and blessings invoked. But minute by min- 
ute come the kindly words spoken and the hearts made 
light. Our principle is for constant help and charity, and 
these come of a look and a word and a handshake, that 
need occupy only a minute. Why talk of hours? It 
means 52,560,000 blessings flashed out minute by minute 
in this hundred years, that have lighted up darkened 
paths and have shown obstacles to be removed. 

But this view is too vast as we look out upon the whole 
Druidic range. It is enough for us to come to our own 
State ; to count up the twenty-five years of humanitarian 
work, since in my native city the Grand Grove was organ- 
ized for Illinois. On the 9th day of June we, in Quincy, 
are to celebrate this event, so important to the great num- 
ber who have been helped in our own commonwealth. 
Then and there was instituted the method of endowments 
under a system of assessments. There came to the birth 
in America the opening of a means for charitable insur- 
ance for laboring men, by which thousands of widows 
and orphans have been saved from beggary and ruin. 

So to-day we take the broad look, as we count from 
our last biennial report our 12,344 members, our benefi- 
cences of $270,162.22, and our revenue of $333,380.53, 
and think of the good thereby done, and to so many in the 
two years ; to spread it not through a quarter of a cen- 
tury for Illinois but a century for the world. 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF. DRUIDS 203 

Surely we, and our predecessors in the Order, have 
not lived in vain. Why, do you ask? Because the real 
helpfulness of life is a richer blessing than is the gain to 
one's self. The inventor of the telegraph or of the tele- 
phone, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood, the 
originator of the deaf and dumb alphabet and the sign 
language for mutes, and all the vast army of philanthro- 
pists who have done radical good to man, are either of 
them infinitely above the cloister-held monk, whose cowl 
keeps him from viewing the vanities of the world lest he 
may lose his miserable and selfish soul, that is not worth 
the destroying. Whittier, our Quaker poet, gives the 
thought, as he says, of some nobleman: 

" He forgot his own soul for others, 
Himself to his neighbor lending; 
He sought the Lord in his suffering brothers, 
And not in the clouds descending." 

We meet for the contemplation of a century, and shall 
soon meet for the concentrated look at a quarter century 
of beneficence. In what? The poor have been cared 
for when poverty pinched. When there was no work 
and none was to be had ; when times of panic, like those 
of '73, and its following years, were upon us, and the 
country was covered with tramps ; when the supply in all 
departments filled the demand, and men looked into the 
sallow faces of their wives, and upon the wasting bodies 
of their hungry children, then our Order was a blessing 
in keeping cheeks rounded and laughing eyes bright, as 
it kept the wolf from the door of many a grateful brother. 
How well do we remember the help we rendered to our 
brethren of the South but a few years since — how our 
funds went to them in such quantity that they had more 
than enough to alleviate the distress caused by the dread- 
ful scourge. 



2<H THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

When disease came upon the husband and father, and 
the hollow-eyed wife and mother was sinking under her 
night-long vigils by the bedside, and wondered if she 
could long hold out, then brothers came, and bade her go 
to sleep and rest, for the day-watches, while they were 
angels of mercy at the sick bed by night. When at last — 
as come it so often must — death entered the house, gaunt, 
and cold, and relentless, and the grief-stricken wife saw 
her support and stay lying cold and helpless in his coffin ; 
when she wrung her hands in despair, and wondered if 
she could work or even find work for the ever hungry 
mouths of the babies that now were hers alone ; when 
even the form of sin thrust its face before her with lying 
pledges of ease, and she shuddered lest there stood in her 
presence a last inevitable resource ; then brothers came 
with the rich endowment — the redemption they had 
promised should be added to their words of sympathy 
and cheer, and she and her children were saved. 

Work has been found for the idle when work was to 
be had ; strangers have been taught to forget the meaning 
of that word, as they have learned to pronounce it 
"friends"; the thoughtless have been counseled; the 
reckless have been restrained ; the endangered have been 
warned ; the fallen have been set again on their feet ; and 
the discouraged and despairing have been taught a new 
hope. 

This is the record that we are called to review to-day, 
in our State for the quarter century, and in the Order for 
one hundred years; and this is the record, which multi- 
plied by the twenty-five or the one hundred years, 
must again be multiplied by the record of our mem- 
bership. 

Mercy! it is the soul of it. Blessing! it is the realiza- 
tion of it. Richness ! of both ! You must search through 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 205 

the good it has done, and the influence for good it has set 
in motion, to contemplate it all. How can we count up 
in a celebration that which has made each moment of our 
life, as an Order, to shine like a glittering star, with its 
benefactions, in the black firmament of needs? 

So I give you joy that to-day we stand face to face 
with a rare record of humanity ; and I give you for a 
sentiment : " The Druid priests of the Oak Groves, sup- 
porters and shields for the vines that cling in their help- 
lessness, and that give shade from the withering sun or 
the drenching rains or the destroying winds ; the blessing 
to the fatherless and the widows, and God's representa- 
tives of love and fellowship to man." 



CENTENNIAL ADDRESS* 

BY HENRY A. M'dNDLEY, ESQ. 

Ladies and Gentlemen: We meet to-day to celebrate 
the end of the first and commencement of the second cen- 
tury of Druidism in the United States. A century ago it 
was a weak plant seeking substance in a strange and 
unfriendly soil. To-day it is a mighty tree, deeply rooted 
in the hearts of the people, with branches permeating 
every city and district of our continent. 

The century just past has wrought great changes — as 
much advancement and as many changes have been made 
as in a thousand years before. The progress in liberality 
and intellectual light, in charity, tolerance, and benevo- 
lence has been equally great. A century ago, if thor- 
oughly orthodox ministers would let Sunday pass with- 

... . * Delivered at Philadelphia. 



206 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

out preaching the sweet and consoling doctrine of Calvin 
that hell was paved with the souls of children not a span 
long — roasting in eternal torment for sins they never did 
commit, which they never knew enough to commit — 
" all for the glory of God/' they w T ould say he was a 
heretic. If he should preach such a damnable doctrine 
to-day they would say he was a soulless demon, and in 
proof they would point to Him who wrote the sins of the 
woman in the sands, where their remembrance might 
be washed away. Since our banner of Druidism was 
planted on American soil, thrones have crumbled, empires 
have crumbled and fallen, wars have come and gone, and, 
above all, the old dogma, the divine right of kings to rule, 
has exploded, and this grand republic of fifty million 
souls proves to the world that an enlightened and untram- 
meled people are capable of self-government, and don't 
need a king, czar, or kaiser, even won't recognize the 
political principle of a third presidential term. Even as 
late as the present generation human slavery in all fully 
civilized countries has passed away, and we now in a few 
years even wonder that human slavery ever could have 
existed amongst a Christian people in any country or in 
any age. The spirit of freedom and progress has even 
reached far away to down-trodden Russia, and we look 
with interest for the fruits which will soon come. 

The crowned heads of the Continent of Europe hold 
by an uncertain and troubled tenure. What has brought 
about this great progress? Interchange of thought and 
a charitable consideration for the rights of others. Some 
may ask, "Will this progress continue?" Yes, because 
revolutions never go backwards. It will continue till the 
last bubble of ignorance and superstition has been probed 
and exploded. It will go forward till oppression in all 
its forms has been overthrown — till vice in all its forms 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 207 

and human misery has been removed as far as lies in 
human power. 

Now, what has brought about this interchange of 
thought between man and man? This investigation of 
facts before hidden under the mist of superstition or 
cloaked over and warded off by the threat and pains of 
treason? What formed the nucleus of this great prog- 
ress ? It was formed in the lodge room. 

The Order of Druids had existed for centuries, and its 
origin is clouded in the haze of the far past. Other and 
similar societies existed contemporaneously, and exer- 
cised like and liberal influences. 

Here in the lodge room they all meet on an equality. 
The prince and the peasant, the rich and the poor — here 
they meet on the broad platform of charity and benevo- 
lence — for mutual benefit, for mutual advancement and 
improvement. The Order of Druids, like all ancient 
orders, was at first crude and imperfect, but time has 
burned off the dross and broken off the rough corners. 
Contact of thought with thought has caused investiga- 
tion, and falsity has fallen before the light of truth. 
Superstition and fraud on the ignorance of others has 
been dispelled under the burning rays of a generally 
diffused intelligence, and the cultivation of the human 
principles of benevolence and charity to all mankind with- 
out regard to sect, creed, race, or color, and mutual assist- 
ance to a worthy brother, his widow, and orphan. 

I shall not enter into the statistics of the relative 
strength of the Order of Druids in this city or elsewhere. 
Suffice to say, we are one of the strongest Orders in the 
world, and our banners are planted under the continuous 
circuit of the sun. We own a magnificent temple at 
Ninth and Market Streets, and one in South St. Louis, 
which are proud monuments of our strength and zeal. 



208 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

The fifty thousand dollars we pay out annually in this 
city alone to brothers in sickness and distress, to their 
widows and orphans, show the stuff we are made of and 
what we are doing for the people. We all can see about 
us the advantage of societies and mutual benefit associa- 
tions. Man is a social being ; he is a dependent being — 
he depends on his fellow-man for mutual assistance, and 
the purpose of these organizations is to furnish mutual 
aid. Experience only too fully shows that these societies 
are the only avenues through which they can be dispensed 
to all. To my brother Druids I would say : " Remain 
true to the tenets of our Order, as your older brothers 
have done who have gone in the way before you — lend a 
helping hand to your brother over the rugged and stormy 
pathway of life. Through vast oceans of bloodshed and 
bigoted persecution to the peaceful haven of civilization 
they are still marching onward hand in hand toward 
that beacon-light, yet distant in the future, where conten- 
tions, wars, and bloodshed cease, and where the bond that 
binds us is made of the bands of brotherly love, benevo- 
lence, and charity to all mankind." 

" The quality of mercy is not strained ; 
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 
Upon the place beneath. 'Tis twice blessed — 
It blesses him that gives and him that takes. 
Tis mightiest of the mighty." 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 209 
ORATION 

BY HON.' CHAS. F. BUCK, NEW ORLEANS. 

Whatever man does, or whatever he undertakes to 
do, is worthy of note or commemoration only in so far 
as it may leave the sign-manual of his deeds impressed 
on the edifice of civilization. 

Life is a grand epic, of which mankind is the hero ; the 
elevation and development of man, the design ; individual 
beings, the actors, voluntary and involuntary, working 
out this design. The episodes are varied and innumer- 
able, but linked like logical necessities in natural sequence 
into the common destiny — towards a unity continuous 
and indestructible, which blossoms perpetually and intui- 
tively in the field of man's consciousness — the unity of 
moral development — of ultimate perfection. 

In the theory no one doubts that this perfection is 
within our reach. The conception of it is vivid and dis- 
tinct in our souls, and the capacity of comprehension 
implies the faculty of attainment. 

But -it is an " ideal unattained " ; perhaps forever unat- 
tainable. We long for it, but it seems ever at an impos- 
sible distance. In the midst of the trials, the temptations, 
the fortunes, or the calamities of life, our soul yearns for 
the fulfillment of the promise which hope whispers to it — 
the promise of that contentment and peace which must 
be the lot of the perfect man. History is the constant strug- 
gle of man to attain whatever is possible ; it is the con- 
stant development of our race; the record of the life of 
mankind. Written volumes report the deeds and achieve- 
ments of men ; the deeds of mankind cannot be told. 
They stand confirmtd in results. The civilization of th§ 



210 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

present age is a product, the factors of which must be 
sought in the generations of sixty centuries. All helped 
to bring about the result ; no one so insignificant but he 
contributed something towards it. 

The common historian exalts the heroes of epochs. I 
would not detract from the glory of their achievements — 
but it has been justly said, they did not make history — 
history made them. At the back of the few whose names 
stand for the time in which they lived, there moved the 
spontaneous and restless power of a public opinion or a 
public sentiment which they seem to direct, but of which 
they were themselves the accidental creatures. Without 
a Marius and Sylla there would have been no Pompey 
and Caesar; without a Tiberius Grachus there would 
have been no Marius or Sylla. Sylla proscribed and 
assassinated the " Commoners " ; Marius avenged their 
wrongs by the slaughter of the Patricians. What these 
two commenced in the Forum and the Comitia, Caesar 
and Pompey brought to an end on the plains of Pharsalia. 
A Napoleon would have been an impossibility in the 
reign of Louis XIV. 

But you may ask, where is the application of all this? 
What has the U. A. O. D. to do with the battle of Phar- 
salia or the Empire of Bonaparte? With these, directly, 
nothing — but with the current of history which leads 
mankind as well through the fruits and blossoms of the 
fields of peace as through the trials of blood and battle, 
to a higher development — everything. 

" In the tides of Being — in actions' storm " the earth- 
spirit, w r orking through the restless soul of man, weaves 

at " Time's humming loom the garment 

of life which the Deity wears " — Infinity and Per- 
fection. Not one of us but holds and directs some thread 
which is woven into this garment. So you, though your 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 21 1 

names may not shine on " pictured page " — every one, 
individually — but more by the influence of your organ- 
ization help to make history. Not that history which 
dazzles for the moment by the record of some heroic 
deed, but that which gradually and imperceptibly civilizes 
and exalts mankind ; that which builds its monuments in 
our moral being and brings us nearer to the attainment 
of the " ideal " which I cannot describe, but which the 
heart feels ; that history which is made not by records of 
conquests, and " broil, and battle," but which proceeds 
from our moral and intellectual consciousness, which 
teaches us how whatever is good, and pure, and eleva- 
ting will survive that which is evil and debasing; how 
truth and virtue, planted in our hearts, made living and 
creative by contact and sympathy with our fellow-men, 
are the civilizers which must bring peace and happiness 
to mankind — the looms on which must be wrought to 
completion the garment of Divinity. Is your ritual 
senseless ceremony, and your symbols, your words, your 
tokens idle playthings? No! they teach the presence of 
an ever-living truth ; they are laid in the depths of human 
sympathy and love ; they are the rich ground out of 
which blooms a broad intelligence which abjures all dis- 
tinctions on the altar of a common humanity. This is 
the law which you set yourselves, the morality you teach, 
the philosophy you illustrate. On this high ground you 
stand, and on it you exalt yourselves by cultivating those 
faculties of moral and mental beauty which we conceive 
in the ideal of the perfect being. - 

We need not go back to the traditions which tell of the 
Druids in the forests of semi-barbarous Germany and 
Gaul; or in the mountains of Wales and the rocks of 
Cornwall. From these modern Druidism, as reorgan- 
ized one hundred years ago to-day, borrowed only its 



212 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

outward form and method of symbolic expression. The 
Druid of History, in his sphere, was a great and noble 
character; but he was possible only in a dark and primi- 
tive age. The Bards, the Vates, and Priests of ancient 
Druidism, meeting in rocky caverns, gathering the mistle- 
toe amid imposing ceremony of reverential awe and 
superstition, performing mystic rites and incantations 
around the base of the " sacred oak," could not exist in 
civilized society. They were a self-constituted caste of 
prophets, priests, and law-makers, which organized state 
policy would not tolerate. Nor would it inquire into 
their worthiness and merits ; they might be learned and 
wise educators of youth, and teachers of morality; judges 
and law-makers to whom were referred the quarrels and 
disputes of men ; they might be unselfish, self-sacrificing, 
pure, devoted to the exclusion of worldly objects, to 
their abstract and spiritual aspirations which might be 
called their religion ; austere and self-denying to the 
verge of sublimity — but they had one fault, or virtue, per- 
haps ; but, fault or virtue, it was the rock on which they 
split. They knew and recognized no superior power on 
earth to themselves. The very law and essence of their 
being was their independence ; their freedom from all 
legal or political obligation to the State or community in 
which they lived, and their undisputed supremacy as a 
privileged and irresponsible priest-craft. Such a power 
could not exist where Roman arms prevailed. The two 
could not be brought into harmony. The Caesars tri- 
umphed; the Druids were exterminated. The Celtic 
tribes in the north of Gaul and the south of Britain 
remained for several centuries under the sway of Druidic 
tradition and belief, but the Bards and Prophets of Druid- 
ism had sunk into the dead past from which there is no 
revival, and soon nothing w&a left to tell posterity of 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 213 

them except some broken remnants of monumental stone. 
Modern organization of Druidism has founded on the 
strict ethics of the historic Druid a system of moral 
teachings designed to cultivate and bring to action the 
nobler traits of human character. Obedience to law, 
respect to constituted authority; fraternity, the logical 
offspring of equality; benevolence and charity; modera- 
tion in power, — in submission, patience; love of virtue, 
abhorrence of vice ; " Unity, Peace, and Concord," motto 
of your labor and your purpose — these are some of the 
strong outlines which give worth, and power, and beauty 
to your Order. 

Through these you not only honor and ennoble your- 
selves, but you exert that influence for good, for peace, 
and order on your fellow-men which makes families 
happy and nations prosperous. 

There never was a time in the history of the world 
when greater responsibility rested on individual man 
than now. Need I task your patience by instituting com- 
parisons between the past and the present ? The progress 
of the century which is drawing to its close is a thrice- 
told tale. Words cannot describe — superlatives can- 
not exaggerate it; but we feel it, we are of it, we live 
in it. 

It behooves us to be well on guard. Man is a restless 
agitator — there is a normal state for him, but he is rarely 
satisfied in it. From time to time ill-humors accumulate, 
and the blood begins to stir, anon it ferments and then 
boils into the frenzy of passion which blinds the judg- 
ment and overleaps the barriers of reason and justice. 
Then are great crimes committed, forsooth, in the name 
of humanity. We must profit by the lesson of the past, 
and avoid the extremities and excesses which defeat their 
own objects. We must understand that peace under 



214 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

liberty means peace under law; that society is originally 
founded on voluntary restrictions of individual freedom, 
and its permanency rests on submission to the rules of 
order which the judgment and experience of mankind 
have established. 

Thus is made the perfect citizen of the Republic. Do 
not consider this a digression from the subject before us. 
For my part, I deem those tenets and principles of your 
Order which define your duties and relations to the state 
as your highest claim to the favor and encouragement of 
the outside world. Not that I would disparage the teach- 
ings of love and brotherly affection, or the practice of 
charity and benevolence which appertain to Druidism: 
but these all mankind has in common with you; why, 
, you enhance their beauty and usefulness by the effect of 
organized effort. But your noblest mission is to educate 
— to teach men freedom under law, patience under 
restraint; to weed out of their hearts prejudice — out of 
their minds superstition ; to temper the violence of pas- 
sion that reason may hold sway and justice be never out- 
raged. So will the episode of which you are the actors 
work itself into the great plan of the Poem of Life ; and, 
when the cycle is run, and the lost perfection is regained, 
you will share in the glory of the work : " This is man — 
again in the image of his Maker." 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 215 

ANCIENT DRUIDIC HISTORY 
Address * 

by t. w. malcolm, p. a. 

L. and G., 0. of G. G. and Brothers: In the hurry 
of this busy life, and in the grand march of improvement, 
science, and learning, and of all those wonderful inven- 
tions that have made this nineteenth century notable as a 
progressive age, we are not apt to look back to the things 
of the past, but rather to look forward to the all-important 
events of the future. 

And yet in this same hurry that characterizes the world 
of to-day, and in this longing to penetrate the future, we 
should remember that all things, no matter how insignifi- 
cant or important, had at some period a beginning. 
Therefore it is essential at times to direct our gaze back to 
the past, and, comparing it with this present age, ascer- 
tain for ourselves how much progress the world has made 
in the years passed away. 

In looking back to the past, and in tracing history 
from its first mention through centuries of doubt and 
darkness, in reading of events that occurred prior to the 
formation of modern kingdoms and republics, there is no 
subject that possesses more of interest to the student of 
ancient history than the history of the Ancient Druid 
Priesthood, a people who, coming from the East, estab- 
lished a religion different in many respects from the other 
religions of that time. 

It is no easy task to procure definite information about 

* Before the Druid Groves and the Public, at Market Hall, St. 
Paul, Minn. 



216 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

the Ancient Druids. True it is, that they kept the records 
of other nations in writing, but in regard to their own 
history they had no such foresight, consequently it is a 
matter of gathering small items from different books of 
history, and trusting to such writers as Julius Caesar, 
Pliny, and others of their time, that any description of 
their history can be given. It is this history, composed of 
these items, that I offer for your consideration this 
evening, grouped together in a presentable form as fol- 
lows: 

ist. Origin of the Ancient Druids. 

2d. Ancient Druid groves and temples, and location 
of same. 

3d. Religion — descriptive of two beliefs. 

4th. Degrees of the Order. 

5th. Teachers and civil judges, their order in general. 

6th. The massacre on the Island of Mona. 

The origin of the Ancient Druid Priesthood is lost in 
the mystery of time. That period of history comprising 
the two centuries before the birth of Christ seems to have 
been the time of Druid prosperity, although there is good 
reason to believe it extended back centuries previous to 
this time ; indeed it is generally conceded that they came 
from Western Asia, along with the Celtic wave that over- 
run the country now known as Europe, and on through 
Germania, Gaul, Wales, Britain, Scotland, and Ireland, in 
all of which countries the Druids left to the succeeding 
generations evidence in plenty of their habitation, consist- 
ing of ruins, fossil remains, gold ornaments, etc. 

Their religion being a hie-rarch-y, and the same in all 
the countries where they ruled, I will, for the sake of 
brevity, confine my remarks more especially to the 
countries of Gaul or France, Britain, Wales, and Ireland. 
These countries, in ancient times, were covered with a 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 217 

heavy growth of forest, among whose trees the oak was 
prominent. 

I will now explain to you some of the different mean- 
ings of the name Druid. For instance, in Saxon the 
word Dry signifies a magician; in Celtic, Deru, an oak; 
in Irish, Drui, a sacred person; and from an old Celtic 
compound, de-rauyd, meaning God-speaking, and proba- 
bly the most correct one, and the Druids of old acknowl- 
edged God's supremacy. 

In traveling through England, Ireland, Wales, and 
Scotland evidences are noticeable of Druid ruins. In 
England, at Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, there is found a 
ruin the remains of which show it to have been an exten- 
sive building when in complete repair. These ruins 
indicate that it originally consisted of four circles, two of 
which were circular, the other two oval in shape ; the 
outer circle, when complete, consisted of thirty upright 
stones and was 108 feet in diameter; these stones aver- 
aged from eighteen to twenty feet in height, and of the 
original thirty stones only seventeen are now remaining; 
and those stones of which the roof was composed are no 
longer in place, but fallen down and broken. Of this ruin 
there remains but little more to be described, and that is 
a large, flat slab of calcareous sandstone, so hard that in 
contact with steel it will strike fire. This slab is sup- 
posed to have been an altar. Another ruin is found at 
Holywood, also of Druid origin. This ruin has a diame- 
ter of 240 feet, and of the many stones used in its con- 
struction only twelve now remain. 

Among the numerous other ruins those found in the 
Hartez mountains, at Avebury, at Carnac, at Stennis, 
and at Island Magee, in Ireland, prove how popular the 
Druid priesthood was in those different countries. 

The building of a temple or grove could not have been 



2i8 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

such an easy undertaking as the building of some of the 
costly edifices of our generation, and it is curious to note 
how their work was accomplished. First a suitable loca- 
tion was found in a grove of their favorite oak trees ; then 
a circle or oblong, but oftener a circle, was described, and 
the stones forming the temple put in place ; these stones, 
about twenty feet high, three feet thick and seven feet 
broad, were placed at proper distances, other stones 
placed on top, and the whole put together, with tenons 
fitted to mortices. 

Still another way was to select a grove of oak trees, 
where they grew thickly together; such a location being 
found, a circle was then described of the required size ; on 
the extreme outside of this circle was a ditch completely 
surrounding it, showing even at that early day the care 
that was taken for safety. On the inside of this ditch 
the trees were left close together; inside of this line of 
trees were stones and small trees, and in the inner circle 
of all were placed in suitable spots very large, flat stones, 
which served as altars. Through this grove a stream of 
water passed, which was considered sacred, as was every- 
thing else in common with it. 

In building their places of worship the Druids are. to 
be commended for the plainness of their temples ; no costly 
sites or expensive structures adorned their country, every- 
thing was practical, and twenty-one centuries shows to 
the world how well they builded and how substantial the 
buildings in which they worshiped God. Having de- 
scribed their temples and groves, I will now refer to their 
religion. 

Like other religions of that time, they incorporated 
the sacrifice of animals with their devotions; offering 
them up with the usual rites and ceremonies attend- 
ing the celebration of sacrifice; this sacrifice being 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 219 

offered up at their festivals and grove and temple ser- 
vices. 

In religious matters the Druids had what I will call 
two beliefs. One of these, the worship of the gods, that 
which was taught the people, was similar to the faith of 
some of the eastern nations, especially the Persians, with 
this difference, that the Druids taught it only as con- 
ditional on and representing certain ideas pertaining to 
the higher religion they also taught, and not, as is gen- 
erally understood, as a definite creed. For instance, 
Mercury had a high place in their esteem as the god of 
arts ; he, also, was essential to the traveler as a guide, and, 
furthermore, was a great aid in the pursuit of wealth. 

Apollo also stood high in their estimation as the god 
who controlled disease, and perhaps they had good reason 
for this belief, as we are often told in this nineteenth cen- 
tury that, owing to certain positions of the planets, some 
person or persons have discovered that a certain year 
will be sickly or noted for good health. We certainly 
know that the Druids were proficient in the art of as- 
tronomy. Another favorite god was Mars, and him they 
called the god of war; still another was Jupiter, and to 
him they ascribed the celestial duty of the patronship of 
the inhabitants of heaven. Again we find another, but this 
time a goddess, viz., Minerva. She had the honor of being 
the patroness of education, also of manufactures, handi- 
craft, etc., etc. To close this list of gods, I will mention 
a god called Bel, popularly representing the sun, and I 
may mention here, that among a large number of ancient 
nations this god, although not having always the same 
name, was a very high personage, some nations placing 
him at the head of all their other gods. Part of the num- 
ber of these gods described above, although having lost 
their higher divinity, are yet used or known at the present 



220 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

day as figures to designate certain planets well known to 
all astronomers. The transmigration of the soul also 
claimed a part in their teachings, and, believing thus, it 
becomes evident, and a fact which history confirms, that 
death had no terrors for them, and so when it ap- 
proached, either in the course of nature or during war, it 
was welcomed, and in war the people would throw them- 
selves on their enemies' spears with an indifference 
wonderful to behold. 

Southey, in his history of England, writes the following 
regarding this belief : " The Druids believed that the 
soul began to exist in the lowest grade of animal life and 
proceeded through all the gradations of animal life until 
it reached the human frame ; this being necessary that it 
might collect during its progress the properties and 
powers of such a life ; this low state was evil, but sin could 
not be there because there was no choice ; therefore death 
was always the passage to a higher life ; but when the soul 
reached its human form, it possessed the knowledge of 
good and evil, for man is born to make his choice between 
them, is also born to experience change and suffering, 
these being conditions of humanity. The soul becomes 
responsible for its behavior; if evil is chosen it returns 
after death to an inferior grade of animal life, in propor- 
tion to the debasement it had reduced itself to ; but if good 
was chosen it passed to a state it could not fall from, and 
when death occurred evil had power no longer; but 
the soul had happiness to all eternity." The following 
creed seems to have been provided for the people : First, 
to worship the gods; second, to do no evil; third, to 
behave courageously. Now these minor gods, this belief 
in the transmigration of the soul, this creed, and also their 
sacrifices, seem, when this matter has received due 
thought, to have been the offshoot of the old eastern re- 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 221 

ligion, common among them, through centuries unknown 
to our history, and that a higher and a better one was 
taking its place. 

The second belief of the Druids was their worship of 
one true God, and this is called by historians their pure 
faith. It is a grand and noble thought for us Druids of 
to-day to remember that even at that early day the 
supremacy of God was taught, that the true belief of the 
Ancient Druids was their belief in one God almighty, 
the architect of the heavens above, the creator of the 
world below, the one God of all gods, the ruler of the 
whole universe. It is noticeable in history that the word 
Pagan is often applied to their religion, and while they 
had undoubtedly superstitious rites, yet at the present day, 
with the help of civilization around us, we yet find 
superstition and Pagan ideas, where we would natu- 
rally look for ideas in keeping with the spirit of the 
times. 

It is plainer, perhaps, to us, who know more of their 
history than the world in general, that this belief was so, 
and were it not true, Druidism would not boast of its 
large membership of to-day. The Druids also believed in 
a future state of rewards and punishments, according to 
the good or bad deeds done in the body here, and also 
believed in the immortality of the soul. 

The Druids incorporated with their religion several 
festivals, these festivals almost always commemorating 
some important event transpiring at a certain season. 
One of these festivals occurred on the 10th of March, 
at the time of planting the seed, celebrated, no doubt, 
to induce a good harvest; another festival, called the 
Tauric festival, was celebrated when, according to the 
astronomers, the sun entered Taurus; another occurred 
when th© harvest was gathered in, about October 31, 



222 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

showing that they were profoundly thankful for the 
blessings attending a bountiful harvest. 

The most important of all their festivals was the one 
celebrated by them at the commencement of the new year, 
which occurred about the first week in May, and was 
accompanied by solemn services, formal sacrifices, and 
ended in enjoyment. 

This festival commenced as soon as the Druid astrono- 
mers ascertained a certain position of the moon. This 
done, the priests and followers, also the people, went forth 
to look for a plant, highly in favor with them, named the 
mistletoe. This plant, or, more properly speaking, para- 
site, for it has no roots, is indigenous to the colder climate 
of England, and is found growing to the oak, pear, and 
apple trees. That, however, which grows on the oak 
tree was the only one the Druids sought after, and when 
found all was then ready for the festival. The Arch 
Druid priest ascended to where the plant was, and, cutting 
it from the oak with a golden knife, let it drop into a 
white cloth or napkin, held ready by two priests in attend- 
ance wearing white robes ; this done the priests immedi- 
ately offered up as a sacrifice two white bulls who had 
been previously tied to the tree by their horns. 

As soon as this sacrifice was ended the people dispersed 
and spent the balance of the day in rejoicings. The ques- 
tion may be asked why so much ceremony was used in 
procuring such a plant. The answer is that this same 
mistletoe possessed great medicinal properties, especially 
when gathered at a certain time. In connection with this, 
I will also state that many other plants and herbs, having 
known medicinal qualities, were also gathered by the 
Druids, who were physicians as well as priests ; and in 
reading history it is often noticeable how in the centuries 
that came, after the Druids had passed away, the Chris- 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 223 

tian priests combined both religion and medicine together. 
The more solemn sacrifices and services of the Druids 
were conducted and celebrated in secret, in their temples 
and groves. These had separate entrances and were 
guarded by Druids of inferior degree. These kept a close 
and constant watch, and admitted only those who could 
show a certain gold chain. This chain had to be of pure 
metal, because it served to show their absolute depend- 
ence on the Deity, whose guardian care they invoked over 
their temples and groves. 

Only the priests of highest degree officiated in the 
groves and temples. These carried a wand in their hands, 
wore a chaplet of oak leaves on their heads, wore long 
robes of white, and adorned their necks and arms with 
chains and bracelets of solid gold. It was also customary 
to wear the hair short and beard long. The head priest 
also wore a white surplice during service. 

Just what the exact number of degrees the priesthood 
had, public history does not define to a certainty, there 
being sometimes two classes of teachers to a degree, both 
classes having equal rank, yet different work to do. The 
degrees, therefore, may be classed as follows : First de- 
gree, called Druids ; second, Eubates or Ovates ; third, 
Bardi or Bards degree ; to this degree one was added 
called Saronidea — this name, from the Greek, means Oak. 
The members of the first degree were those who, having 
been initiated, had years of study before them before en- 
tering on those higher duties that pertained to the degrees 
that were to follow ; studies that were to show them all 
that was useful in the Order, that was to open up to them 
the mysteries of the past, to unfold to their gaze science in 
a most advanced stage, and to finally draw the curtain of 
secrecy aside and show to them all that was noble, grand, 
and beautiful in the Order, 



224 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

The second degree, called the Eubate degree or Ovates, 
was composed of priests versed in the sciences, of which, 
in particular, one branch, that of astronomy, claimed 
much of their attention. Consulting the moon, sun, and 
planets, they became well versed in this science, and fore- 
told eclipses and events that were to come with ease, and 
not only did all this, but also fixed the number of days 
in the year at 354. In making their computations they 
consulted the moon first, and, in consequence, invariably 
counted the night first and day afterward. 

The third degree, called the Bards, was one of the most 
important, as with its other branch it supplied bards, 
teachers, and judges. The Bards filled an important and 
prominent part in Ancient Druidism, their minds being 
stored with the history of past generations, their hands 
familiar with the chrotta or harp of that time ; they were 
both historians, poets, and musicians ; of their own history 
they were perfectly familiar, and keeping records of other 
nations, they were consequently well posted in their his- 
tory also ; as poets and Bards they represented the very 
best talent of their profession ; their poetry and music, 
woven together into tales and stories, at once interesting 
and instructive ; their voices rising loud and clear, in de- 
scription of some great battle fought and won, or sinking 
into a low, mournful cadence, as their thoughts, taking 
the form of words, recalled the death of some renowned 
personage or brother Bard, who, living at some mo- 
mentous period of their history, had by valiant deeds or 
great wisdom rendered important services that had made 
his name endeared to the whole Order. 

The Bards were extremely jealous of their Grove re- 
treats, and would tolerate only those who, by initiation, 
had received the right to be among them. 

The other branch of this degree were the teachers and 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 225 

civil judges of the people. As teachers they became most 
popular, yearly adding to the number of the young men 
who came to be instructed by them — young men whose 
fathers held important positions in the government of the 
country, and other young men from among the people at 
large. 

These youths, sometimes taught in caves, and again in 
the Groves, to complete a full course of study, had to 
devote at least twenty years of their life, and learn over 
20,000 verses, all of which had to be learned by word of 
mouth. 

This course of study embraced astronomy, geometry, 
natural philosophy, politics, geography, and the mysteries 
of the Druid Order. The benefit of this course of study 
will be apparent from the fact that those who passed 
through it enjoyed many privileges, among which, I may 
mention, exemption from all taxation, both of peace or 
war. 

This class also furnished the judges of the country, 
before whom all cases were tried, and whose decisions 
were final ; the person or persons disobeying them being 
liable to excommunication, and debarred the privilege of 
attending the sacrifices, the next punishment to death. 

During the latter part of the century preceding the 
birth of Christ there existed in society two honorable 
classes, viz., the Druids and Equites, the first having 
charge of the government, the latter had charge of the 
military. 

The head place of the Druidic government in Britain 
and the adjoining isles was on the Island of Mona, now 
known in history as Anglesea. This island belonged to 
Wales, and was separated from the mainland by the 
Meni straits. The head place of the Druidic government 
in Gaul was in the territory of the Carnutes, now known 



226 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

as Orleans, in France. At both these places there was held 
each year a court, at which all cases were tried, decrees 
asked for and taken into consideration, and where the col- 
lege of Druids elected yearly the Arch Druid for the 
succeeding year. Among the Ancient Druids it was not 
uncommon to find princes of the royal blood — one of these 
was called the Adeun Prince — and in Ireland the Order 
ranked next to royalty ; the royal family of that time, ac- 
cording to custom, wearing on their robes seven colors, 
the Druids six, lords five, military four, and the common 
people one. In all their sacrifices, festivals, and services 
it is noticeable that the Druids used the oak leaf. Indeed, 
this tree was the one particular tree they loved, and they 
had the idea that God loved this- tree and regarded it 
above all others; therefore it became their symbol, and 
certainly, their selection was good. Their Order, like this 
tree, taking root in a strange country, had grown, even as 
the oak sapling had done, and had become strong and 
vigorous. This tree, then, sustained to them a close re- 
lationship — on it grew the all-important mistletoe. Groves 
of these trees surrounded their temples ; its leaves and 
branches sheltered them by day and night ; its age, as it 
stood in its mighty strength before their eyes, was a 
reminder of the years of their Order. On its qualities 
the teachers expounded, and on its sanctity the Bards 
in poetic language and eloquent tones exhorted the 
people. 

Well might the Priests and Bards be proud of their 
Order, well might they look over the history of centuries 
passed away, and compare it with the most stately tree 
they could find; in God's own work of nature, what piece 
of architecture, designed by hand of man, even though it 
was Solomon's Temple, could match in beauty of design, 
and perfect finish, the handiwork of God? Here in the 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 227 

forest, with the golden sunlight above, with nature in its 
most beautiful colors all around them, the Druids ac- 
knowledged the power of God by the reverence they paid 
to Him through his own works. 

The Druid Order of old had much to commend in it. 
Contrary to the many nations who loved war, it sought to 
establish peace and brotherly love; by the power of 
knowledge it raised itself to almost unlimited power in 
the several countries which it inhabited; it could by its 
authority prevent armies from fighting, and no doubt in 
many instances did so; it was popular with the people 
because it sought to advance their interests ; it established 
a course of education, and taught many useful branches 
of knowledge ; it stood forth as the arbiter of right and 
wrong, and in its courts of equity rendered decisions ac- 
cording to the known laws of that period ; it sought to 
advance science by encouragement to study its different 
branches and made great progress in this same study. 

Its Bards were famous for a high conception of the 
arts of music and poetry. It taught a pure religion, and 
which, in contrast to the religion of Rome, was different in 
every known particular, and more especially so, when it is 
to be remembered that while Druidism taught morality 
and justice, brotherly love and kindness, the Romans 
taught a religion of the passions calculated in its effect 
to lower the standard of human nature. 

History now brings us to the final ending of the Order 
as a united body. 

About fifty-five years before Christ the Romans, having 
been victorious in almost all of their campaigns, reached 
Britain. Here, after years of bloodshed, they conquered 
the Britons, and thus, there being two parties, and, as is 
the case where two powerful parties meety one had to 
give way to the other. Both of these parties, I have said, 



228 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

were powerful — the Romans in arms and well-trained 
soldiers, the Druids in a powerful religion and the de- 
voted adherence of the people. It was not to be expected 
that these two parties could agree in any particular, their 
manners and customs being so very different ; and so the 
Romans finally decided that the Druids and all pertaining 
to them should cease to have an existence. In accordance 
with this, the Roman Emperor, about fifty years after the 
birth of Christ, issued an edict forbidding the Druid 
priesthood to practice their rites and ceremonies, and, as 
might have been expected, and probably as the Romans 
had calculated on, this produced an outbreak that finally 
culminated in the massacre of thousands of people, in- 
cluding both Britons and Druids. 

The scene of this massacre was on the Island of Mona, 
already alluded to as the place where the Arch Druid 
priest of Britain, Wales, and Ireland had his residence. 
Paulinas, a Roman general, some years after the edict of 
the Emperor forbidding the Druid worship, marched his 
soldiers to the shore opposite to Mona's isle. Here pro- 
curing trees which he caused to be made into rafts, he 
crossed with all his soldiers and landed on the island. 
Here gathered together were great numbers of the 
Britons, including many women and children, and it is 
related of the Roman soldiers that at first they refused to 
advance, but being urged to do so, like soldiers, obeyed, 
and the slaughter commenced. It is a matter of his- 
tory that no resistance was made by either Druids or 
Britons, and it is not necessary for me to linger longer on 
a scene that added no additional glory to the arms of 
Rome ; a scene, also, that showed how the Ancient Druids 
could die as martyrs to their faith. 

The triumph of the Romans was complete — the sun 
that had risen in the morning on this beautiful island and 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 229 

shone on everything fair and pure set at night on a 
scene of bloodshed and death. 

Ancient Druidism as a united body no longer had an 
existence ; its Priests, Bards, Teachers, all were swept 
away, and Rome was satisfied. What remnants of the 
Order remained in other places had an existence, as near 
as can be ascertained, until about the seventh century. 

Such in brief is the ancient history of our Order. Look- 
ing into it closely, and taking into consideration the super- 
stitions of the times at that early age of the world's his- 
tory, we especially of the Order, from an intimate 
knowledge of its secret history, find in it much that is 
beautiful, grand, and ennobling, and are satisfied to ac- 
cept it as a foundation on which to build the superstruc- 
ture of modern Druidism. 

In beginning this paper I directed your attention back 
to ancient history. Let me now, at its close, ask you to 
retrace your steps from the historic island of Anglesea, 
and go with me to the old city of London, England, where 
in 1 78 1, in the King's Arms Tavern or Hotel, the corner- 
stone of modern Druidism may be said to have been laid, 
and where I now leave you in Unity, Peace, and Concord. 

After music by the band, Dr. Chas. Griswold was in- 
troduced, and delivered an interesting address on Modern 
Druidism. 

The speaker alluded to the importance of the subject; 
about the first successful grove in the United States was 
organized in 1839; there are now 125,000 members in the 
Order. Pure Druidism had a peculiar claim on the 
morality of society. 

It taught immortality of the soul and the belief in God ; 
the body of man was the symbolism of Druidism. The 
speaker adverted to the propriety of secret societies; he 
said there was a necessity for secret organizations, they 



230 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

were a portion of the divine plan ; there have been secret 
conclaves in all times, among all nations, and in all places. 
Man was so constituted that he could not exist as a 
hermit. 

The uniform craving for secret organizations is the 
best proof of their divine origin. 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 231 

THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRIUDS. 

Ideas ripen to deeds like the seed to fruit. Hurle, the 
philanthropist, but very little thought that when he urged 
the good people of England to unite and to form societies 
for their own elevation and that of their countrymen, that 
a hundred years afterwards thousands of men would, 
in grateful remembrance of his efforts, assemble all over 
the universe to celebrate the anniversary, the centenary 
of the formation of a society of which he had become the 
founder, a society known as the Order of the Druids, 
which in the year 1781 held its first meeting in King's 
Arms Tavern, in Poland street, in the city of London. 

The aim of these noble men, who joined Hurle in the 
great work of cultivating fraternal love, enlightening the 
masses of men yet wandering in darkness, establishing 
good will amongst all the children of men, was crowned 
with success, the annals and the records testifying to the 
extraordinary amount of good and charitable acts per- 
formed by the lodges or groves, as well as by the indi- 
vidual members thereof. And if we take the name of 
the word Druids to its proper origin, it could not be other- 
wise, for already amongst the Celtic races they performed 
the services of priests, later on the old Germans called 
them druthin, masters, or lords, although it is asserted that 
the word Druid is said to be derived from the word deru, 
an oak, from the Hebrew derussim or drussim, con- 
templates, or from the Irish drui or draui, a sacred, 
person. 

If we, however, agree with Pierre de Chiniac, a French 
abbe, who wrote on the nature and dogmas of the Gallic 
religion, who refers to the old Celtic compound de-rouyd, 



22>2 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

from De, God, and rouyd, speaking, a participle of the 
verb rouyddim, to speak, we come as near to the source 
as possible, for the Druids were those who spoke for 
or of God, hence were either prophets or theologians, 
men who devoted their lives to charity, and in that ca- 
pacity served humanity under manifold circumstances and 
positions, not only as priests, but also as physicians, law- 
givers, judges, masters of songs and of music, and of 
all that was ennobling the mind. As the Druids did not 
allow their tenets or history to be committed to writing, 
our knowledge of their peculiarities is certainly very 
limited and their origin as an institution as little clear as 
the etymology of the name. 

It was agreed by some that the Druidical and Persian 
religions were identical, by others that the Druids were 
immediate offshoots and descendants of a tribe of Brah- 
mins, still others were inclined to refer them to the 
Zoroastrian Magi, others deducing the word from the 
Saxon dry, a magician, but it is generally conceded that 
they were of eastern origin, judging from their analogous 
belief and practices, characteristic of the Orientals. At 
the time of, before, and after Christ, they inhabited chiefly 
Gaul and the island of Britain, Wales, Ireland, and the 
island of Mona. Their characteristics consisted in the 
adoration of one Supreme Being, in the belief of the im- 
mortality of the soul, a future state of rewards and 
punishments, taking the form of a species of metempsy- 
chosis, in the use of circular temples open at the top, 
in the worship of fire as the emblem of the sun, in 
the celebration of the Taurii festival (when the sun en- 
tered Taurus). They, however, admitted also inferior 
deities, such as Belen, Hesus, Taram, often sacrificing 
human bodies on the altar with the carcasses of beasts. 
They professed to reform morals, to secure peace, and to 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 233 

encourage goodness, " connecting therewith, however, 
pernicious superstitions." 

Their instructions were conveyed orally by means of 
verses, requiring a novitiate of twenty years before they 
could be well committed to memory. Inasmuch as they 
composed the year by lunations, they must have had some 
knowledge of the movements of the heavenly bodies. 
Relics found in Ireland are thought to be astronomical 
instruments, designed to show the phases of the moon. 
They attributed a mystic sacred character to the plants, 
to the mistletoe in particular. An antidote to all poisons, 
and a cure for all diseases, they saw in the perpetual ver- 
dure of this plant an emblem of eternal life, or in its 
•appearance during winter, when all the rest of nature 
was sterile and dead, the independent life of Deity. 

The samolus, or marsh wort, the helago, or hedge 
hyssop, the vervain, were regarded as powerful pro- 
phylactics and remedies, not only in respect to physical 
diseases, but also to the dark workings of evil. They 
were carried as charms, as well as amber beads, which 
they manufactured for warriors in battle and which are 
still found in their tombs. 

Their ceremonies — those which they celebrated in the 
depths of the oak forests, or of secluded caves — are 
known to us only through the vaguest traditions, and in 
the stupendous but dilapidated stone monuments which 
strew the surface of France and Britain. They had their 
bards, poets, their vates, diviners or revealers of the 
future, their priests or druids proper, teachers, and 
judges, presided over by an arch-druid, whose authority 
was supreme. Affiliated to these three orders, without 
sharing their prerogatives, were prophetesses or sor- 
ceresses, who had a powerful influence over the fears of 
the people. 



234 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

The Gallic mariner often went to consult them amid 
the reefs of the Armorican coast. " At night/' says a 
historian, " when the tempest raged as he skirted the 
savage promontory, he fancied that he heard strange cries 
and shouts and wild melodies mingling with the wails of 
the wind, and the eternal moan of the waves. On the 
summit of the misty crags he saw red phantoms gliding 
with streaming hair and burning torches whose flashes 
were like lightning." These were the druidesses weaving 
their mystic charms, healing maladies, conjuring up all 
living forms, raising or appeasing the elements, or ex- 
torting the secrets of Fate. 

Their favorite resort was the island of Sena, where 
the nine Senes dwelt, and the nameless islet opposite the ■ 
mouth of the Loire, where once every year, between sun- 
rise and sunset, they pulled down and rebuilt the roof of 
their temple; but if anyone by chance let fall a particle 
of the sacred materials, she was torn to pieces, amid 
frantic dances, in which the Greeks saw the rites of their 
own Bacchantes, or the orgies of Samothrace. 

The Druids, being priests, philosophers, physicians, 
teachers, soothsayers, musicians, and judges, obtained an 
almost absolute rule. That this rule was in many respects 
beneficial ; that they professed and taught a higher civil- 
ization than that which had before prevailed, and that for 
a time they presented the only bond of unity that w T as 
possible in the barbarous and warring life of the Gauls, 
cannot be denied, just as little as that the inevitable results 
thereof — the misuse of power — degenerated into tyranny. 

Julius Caesar, who is the ancient writer, has given the 
clearest account of the Druids. He states that they 
aroused the jealousy of another order in society, the 
Equites,, or warriors, men of martial prowess, who had 
taken the lead in the political conduct and constitution of 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 235 

the tribes; they, as it is supposed, gradually overthrew 
the power of the Druids in Gaul, and it is known that 
when that country was subdued by the Romans, the 
Druidical religion gradually retired before the classic 
heathenism, and step by step withdrew, at first into 
Armorica, and then into Great Britain, where in the time 
of Nero it was suppressed, and afterwards in the Island 
of Anglesea, where it had lingered the longest and from 
which it was driven by the Roman troops amid a great 
deal of slaughter. 

The only modern remains of Druidism are those 
immense structures of stone, those menhirs, cromlechs, 
dolmen, and avenues, which, as we contemplate them in 
the immense ruins at Stonehenge, Avebury, and Carnac, 
still fill us with astonishment and awe. In fact, the soil 
of Western and Central France, as well as that of parts 
of England, is strewn with these gigantic memorials, 
whose original uses we cannot explain, but which the 
imagination connects with the rites of the Druidical wor- 
ship. 

A new era dawned over the world. Johann Gens- 
fleisch, known also as Gutenberg, a native of Mainz on 
the Rhine, invented the art of printing; other inventions 
followed, creating a revolution of an immense magnitude ; 
the people became enlightened ; superstition and ignorance 
were considered things of the past; whatever was found 
good and agreeable of the old customs and rites of the old 
generations was retained and improved; whatever was 
detrimental was cast off. Thus it was that in the re- 
organization of the Order of the Druids, one hundred 
years ago, all that was considered dead ballast was thrown 
overboard, and the great ship was launched again upon 
the sea with " Truth Unto the Whole World " at its mast- 
head and " Unity, Peace, and Concord " upon its flags. 



236 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

The modern Druids soon found admirers and help- 
mates wherever they made port; wherever they pitched 
their tents they received encouragement ; intelligence 
spread; the lessons inculcated teaching harmony, virtue, 
energy, moderation, and benevolence, brought rich har- 
vest, so that, what few organizations can boast of, they 
have been enabled to celebrate this day the one hundredth 
year of a useful existence, celebrating its centenary an- 
niversary not only in this city, but on the borders of the 
Hudson, the Missouri, the Rhine, the Oder, the Danube, 
on the frontiers of Canada and on those of Mexico, at the 
Atlantic slope and at the Pacific, in Old England and in 
New England, Australia, in France, and in the forests of 
Bohemia. 

Thousands of men, women, and children, who have 
received and who are yet enjoying the benefits bestowed 
by the Order of Druids, join on this very day in prayer 
and thanksgiving, participating in a festival which does 
occur but once during man's existence, a centenary for 
which grand preparations have been made, said to be as 
extensive as interesting, to which invitations have been 
tendered to everyone who, like the members of the 
Order themselves, uphold the promise and lives in ac- 
cordance with it — 

" To be good and human." 

From the New Orleans Times. 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 237 

DRUIDISM 

An Address * 

by mayor w. r. vaughn, noble grand arch of the 
united ancient order of druids. 

Ladies and Gentlemen: Permit me to extend my 
most sincere thanks for this cordial greeting, both from 
old friends and from new. 

The institution of Druidism goes back to a period 
almost beyond historical records. Ancient Druidic 
temples existed in the forests of Germany, and along 
the valleys and plains of England, long before the Roman 
legions ventured in conquered lands. Just what were the 
rites celebrated in Druidic Groves, no searcher amid the 
relics of the past has been able, with any certainty, to 
unfold, but we are assured that in their primitive rites 
the priests of Druidism and the simple but brave and 
heroic races amid which these rites were performed 
sought diligently to penetrate the mysteries of the un- 
known and to look upon the often rude and stern aspects 
of nature by which they were surrounded, up to Nature's 
God. They sought to find that which was above and 
beyond them, and to rise to a higher state of existence in 
the future that lies before each human soul. They en- 
couraged bravery and love of country as cardinal virtues. 
Their priests, even their women, united with their more 
robust brothers in resisting the invader. The Roman 
found in the followers of Druidism his most determined 
foes. They sought also to promote union and inculcate 
love of country among their followers, and in all things 
were true patriots as well as true men. 

* Delivered at Fort Madison, Iowa. 



238 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

The fact that we can gather in an assemblage of this or 
any other kind, in this great country of ours, unmolested 
by any governmental espionage or inquiry, without any 
suspicion of the legality of our purpose or of the loyalty 
of our designs and intentions, is a source of intense grat- 
• ification that we are protected by institutions so broad and 
generous as ours are. It is not untimely for us on this 
occasion, nor is it improper, to allude to recent events of 
a political character in illustration of the moderation of a 
popular government that depends upon an intelligent pop- 
ular will for its stability, strength, and power in securing 
public order and civil liberty. We are assembled here 
to-night, at the close of a general, energetic, and in some 
respects embittered political conflict between parties and 
men, either seeking to retain supremacy or striving to 
attain it by the mastery of the ballot box. Such a spec- 
tacle has never before been witnessed in the history of the 
human race. Great Britain, the home of the ancestry of 
hundreds of thousands of us, from time to time, displays 
the grand movement of the popular will in the selection 
of one branch of her imperial Parliament, where several 
millions are voters, but where millions of others are ex- 
cluded from the exercise of this great privilege of self- 
education; France, under the empire, exhibited a sem- 
blance of universal suffrage on two or three occasions, 
but it was so hedged in by imperial restraints that it was 
no more than a mere mockery of freedom and of aspira- 
tions for liberty. Under the republic even, limitations 
have been so thrown around this birthright heritage and 
right arm of the protection of the people, rich and poor, 
that its resemblance to the pattern which the great repub- 
lic of the new world has set them is only a feeble copy 
and an imperfect transcript. 

In Germany, the birthplace and origin of Druidism, 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 239 

there is no such a quiet and effective display of the power 
of the people in their sovereign capacity as was made in 
the United States only a few weeks ago. Fisher Ames, 
one of the most eloquent statesmen of the last century, 
and a native of Massachusetts, when engaged in a debate, 
in the convention of that State called to adopt or reject 
the proposed national constitution, said : " We are now 
barely three millions of people. We must legislate now 
for many more millions to be born hereafter, and it is no 
stretch of imagination to believe that in one hundred years 
the republic will have fifty millions of people. " It now 
lacks five years until the century is completed from 
the adoption of that instrument and its going into opera- 
tion. Five millions more people are now within our bor- 
ders than the prophetic vision of Fisher Ames saw less 
than one hundred years ago. At the last election for 
President, only a few weeks ago, three times as many 
men of full age voted as there were men, women, and 
children in the republic at the date of the prophecy of 
Fisher Ames. Never before, in the history of any people, 
were so many millions of adult persons called upon to 
decide who their chief ruler should be. 

France, though a republic, Great Britain, Germany, nor 
any other of the great powers of the earth, decide for 
themselves, by universal suffrage, who shall wield the 
supreme power in the state. With us ten millions of 
voters left their avocations for a few hours, with no arms 
in their hands, with only a slip of printed paper in the 
grasp of each of them, and with no tumult, no disorder, 
with no bloodshed, and no violent revolutionary energy, 
by the silent dropping of the ballot, decided for them- 
selves, and each for himself, whether or not this man or 
that, this eminent citizen or that, should exercise the 
supreme /executive authority of the nation for a given 



240 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

period. Party and party eagerness and zeal accompanied 
the sublime act, until the grand aggregate was ascertained, 
and the balance struck, and the result declared. When 
this was truthfully and positively announced to each ham- 
let in the republic, the men engaged in the strife of poli- 
tics returned to their ordinary duties, and no smoking 
barricades, no streets slippery with blood, no smouldering 
ruins, no mangled corpses marked the pathway of the 
revolution. The climax was peace ; the means civiliza- 
tion, and the order we represent forms an important 
part of this great structure that is able to accomplish such 
a profound and lasting impression upon the institutions 
and happiness of mankind. 

All these things are not the result of mere accident. 
They depend upon causes that are easily discoverable, and 
do not depend on any particular acute intelligence for 
their illustration or elucidation. Had our forefathers 
seen with clearness the immense flood of foreign immi- 
gration that would be poured upon our shores, in the 
century that followed the great task of laying the foun- 
dations of the new government, they would doubtless 
have been amazed at the difficulties and extent of the 
task of assimilating in republican thought and attachment 
to republican institutions millions of people whose home 
thoughts were directed, in great part, under the shadow 
of monarchical influences. Civil and religious liberty has 
meant more with us than the free exercise of the faith of 
each and the freedom from tyrannical restraints as to 
the person of the citizen. More than in any other coun- 
try under the sun our people have enjoyed the privilege 
of free association, whether in the precincts of the lodge 
of some secret or benevolent order, or in open daylight, 
and in the face of the whole world, with no mystic oblir 
gations or ties to confound and confuse the suspicious 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 241 

and the ignorant. Government, with us, has never 
stepped in to interfere with any such association. 

Once, in the history of the republic, popular prejudice 
assumed an organized hostility to institutions such as 
ours is, in its general structure, but the passion that was 
aroused by an event of considerable tragic interest soon 
spent its force, and popular favor, without any suspension, 
has, ever since, been turned to the cultivation of the 
broad, generous spirit of manhood and fraternity. The 
school and the church are doubtless great agencies in 
smoothing over the difficulties that every form of govern- 
ment encounters in dealing with its citizens. Many are 
prone to attribute to these the great burden of the task 
of meeting government more than half way, and making 
government of any kind possible and stable. It cannot 
have escaped our attention that other agencies as well 
have been at work, and are still at work, and are ap- 
proaching the same end from different directions. It is 
not in the mouth of anyone to say that the known and 
recognized secret orders of the United States are in any 
way inimical to the government or dangerous, in any 
respect, to the stability of the republic. On the contrary, 
it requires no great depth of penetration to observe the 
general fact that they are powerful agencies in aiding and 
assisting rightful authority in maintaining itself, and in 
preserving order and national liberty. If the current of 
immigration of millions of persons who are not fully 
acquainted with the spirit of our institutions was threat- 
ening to the careless observer of facts, his or her disap- 
pointment will be happier after the reflection that the 
established secret orders in the United States have been 
potent and generous agencies in cultivating in the foreign- 
born citizen that attachment to our institutions that has 
been marked by the greatest personal sacrifices on the 



242 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

battle-field and elsewhere, where patriotism makes the 
sternest demands upon her devotees. Our secret orders 
have not only performed this important and glorious task 
of assimilation, but as auxiliaries of the church and 
school, with those who breathed the free air of our com- 
mon home and heritage first, they have made government 
easier and better, and even freer. Patriotism may be a 
blind devotion to our country, whether she be right or 
wrong, on any public measure. Patriotism that is refined 
with an intelligence and warmth of heart, and goes to its 
grand duty with a full and free conception of truth on its 
side, will always win the admiration of the world, whether 
its opinion be elevated on the highest standard of civiliza- 
tion, or whether the memory of the deeds of glory be 
almost lost amid wreck and ruin and debasement. None 
should have a greater admiration for Christianity than 
the American people, for despite all the wrongs that have 
been committed in its name since the death of its sublime 
founders, it has been a strong arm in the liberalizing 
civilization that has made the republic an amazing monu- 
ment of human energy. None should pay higher tribute 
than we to the humanizing breadth and enlightenment of 
our public schools, despite the faults that cause them to 
lag in the rear of perfection. None should withhold the 
credit that is due to the secret orders in America for the 
benevolence they have cultivated, for the charity of opin- 
ion that they have inculcated, and for the fraternal attach- 
ments that they have cemented, in spite of the accidents 
of birth. 

It is just as natural for our people to separate, in their 
organization of secret societies, into deviations of form 
and ritual, as it is for them to diverge in the organization 
and choice of their religious associations. Religion, with 
our people, has a common center, a single axiom. So 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 243 

with secret associations. As there is no religious society 
in the United States with a motive antagonistic to gov- 
ernment, so there is no secret association among us 
whose aim and tendency are the subversion of govern- 
ment, unless it be some meager, occult, profound cabal 
whose members hide away their intentions and purposes 
in some obscure haunt, and who themselves are mere out- 
casts and insensate enemies of all forms of civilized au- 
thority. Governments grow, and one is not made and 
shaped in a day or in a month. Forms of government 
frequently come to the surface of human affairs, and are 
mistaken for the substance of things. They disappear at 
the first touch of rudeness and violence. Governments 
and institutions that endure and answer the purpose of 
their creation and growth come gradually out of the ele- 
ments that are necessary and essential to their develop- 
ment. So it is with secret societies and organizations 
that have a sublime and noble object and end. I might 
here, to-night, go back to the origin of Free Masonry, 
and sketch the simple beginning of that order, as the out- 
lines are given us in the traditions of the building of Solo- 
mon's temple at Jerusalem. We might go down to Joppa 
again, by the seaside, with those ancient mariners who 
sailed unknown seas in search of gold with which to deco- 
rate and embellish that proudest edifice of the Flebrew 
scriptures. We might look out to the west, toward Leba- 
non, and again repeople her lofty hillsides with the arti- 
sans who hewed her fragrant cedars into rafters and 
beams for the Holy Temple. Misty and dim and uncer- 
tain are the traditions, but grand and sublime the precepts 
that have come down to us from that remote time, 
whether in an unbroken chain, with the earliest link 
affixed to the altar in the holiest of holies, and the latest 
to the tender heart-strings of this our generation, or leap- 



244 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

ing here and there the chasms that fitful barbarism has 
made in the dark ages, are gathered in a code of richest 
teaching for newer races in a newer and broader civiliza- 
tion. We might, if we go no further back than to the 
deep foundations of York cathedral, whose turreted walls 
have defied six centuries of storm and six centuries of 
human conflict and agony. Tradition places the roots of 
an ancient and honorable secret organization, whose 
lodge-tree shades the best and bravest in every land under 
the sun, in the hearts of those skilled foreign artisans who 
came from their native countries on the continent to erect 
York minster, one of Merry Old England's grandest 
temples. Be this as it may. Be it that the foundations 
of ancient and honorable Free Masonry can be traced 
among the sad relics of a temple whose scattered frag- 
ments are crumbling into dust on the sacred hill-top that 
looks far away toward the glittering Jordan. Be it that 
we can only follow the traces of this ancient human insti- 
tution to the towers of York minster, as they rise to brave 
the clouds and storms of centuries that have broken 
against them, and clouds and storms that will doubtless 
break against them for centuries to come. 

Still, Druidism has its ancient and sacred history to 
illustrate .some of the noblest epochs in human thought, 
and has its imperishable monuments as witnesses of its 
antiquity. The Hebrew faith has come down to us in a 
literature and character unchanged since Moses deliv- 
ered the law amid the awful thunderings of the Great 
Jehovah. 

Druidism has its records in stones, that stand in the 
heart of modern civilization to mark the path along which 
the human race has trodden. Naked, cold philosophy has 
struggled to teach men how to dispense with religion, but 
the human heart, unsatisfied with the chilly forms of logic, 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OP DRUIDS 245 

turns to faith and religion for that warmth that nothing 
but religion can satisfy. 

There is something so vastly different in the paganism 
of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome from the Druidical 
worship of our German and British ancestors, that we can 
trace in its remains and relics a nearness to the Deity 
Himself that is not discernible in the mythology of the 
races whose homes were on the shores of the Mediter- 
ranean Sea. The ancient Germanic peoples, among 
whom Druidism had its origin, unquestionably, and where 
it had its highest exemplification, and from whom it has 
come down to us, had no literature with which to preserve 
its ritual. We know something of it through the litera- 
ture of other peoples ; through the Romans, the first con- 
querors of the Germanic and Celtic races. Julius Caesar, 
who first led his Roman legions into the vastness of the 
dark forests that covered what is now the fairest portion 
of Germany, has made a brief record of some of the forms 
of Druidical worship that he observed, not with the steady 
gaze of the diligent and curious student of men and 
things, but with the hasty glance of a conquering raider. 
He tells us, in his Commentaries on the Gallic War, that 
the Germans built no temples, and that their priests were 
called Druids. 

It is curious that his details are so meager, when we 
reflect that to his office as one of the consuls and generals 
of the republic was united that of Supreme Pontiff or 
head of the priesthood of pagan Rome. Beautiful and 
attractive spots were selected in the depths of the forest, 
where the branches of magnificent trees overhung and 
shaded the sacred enclosure. The priests and priestesses 
of the Druidical form or system were clad in long gar- 
ments of white, and white oxen were selected for such 
sacrifices as were prescribed in their mystic ceremonies. 



246 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

In most places in Germany the enclosure of the unroofed 
temple was made of palisades, and the area was circular 
in form. It was not poverty or want of mechar i# cal skill 
that led these ancient people to select the open air, and 
temples roofless, except for the foliage of the forest, as 
places of worship. He tells us that they had comfortable 
dwellings, but no towns. They had cultivated fields, and 
herds of cattle, and wagons, and draught animals. They 
knew the use of iron, procured it from their own mines, 
and shaped it into weapons and tools of industry. 

In government, they were a free democracy, and had 
no chief except when upon a warlike expedition. Inter- 
nal disputes were either settled by arbitration, by their 
Druidical teachers, or by single combat. Theirs was a 
fraternity. They were bound to each other by bonds of 
sympathy. There were neither poor nor rich among 
them. Their priesthood the Druids inculcated, taught 
them the fellowship and the common origin of man, and 
in their open-air temples there was nothing between them 
and the mystic deity they worshiped, the deity whose 
thunders and tempests, in the depths of the forest, were 
sublime manifestations of a power that had man wholly 
in his keeping. 

Roman conqueror, Anglo-Saxon invader, Scandina- 
vian pirate, and Norman usurper have been unable in 
England to obliterate the traces of Druidism that for 
nearly two thousand years have remained ineradicable. 
Tacitus, whose memoirs of his father-in-law, Agricola, 
the Roman pro-consul and the final conqueror of the 
ancient Briton, or the Welsh, as we now call their do- 
main, leaves a few traces of Druidism as it once existed 
in the British Isles. The curious circular rows of gigantic 
upright stones at Stonehenge attest the place of worship 
of the conquered people. Like the palisade temples of 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS 247 

the German forests, they were open to the sky, and we 
are told by this eloquent and faithful chronicler that the 
priests and priestesses were robed in white and that 
the sacrifices were of white oxen, animals sacred to 
their ancient faith. It is clear from these meager details 
that Druidism involved no human sacrifices. Such an 
extremely barbarous devotion of human life to religious 
purposes would not have escaped the censurable com- 
ment of such a humane narrator of events, who, at the 
peril of his own life, did not hesitate to picture some of 
the hideous judicial murders in Rome itself. Ancient 
Druidism taught that the family was the basis of society. 
It inculcated the highest reverence for the marriage rela- 
tion. The Germanic races under that faith had a pro- 
found contempt for a civilization that was either en- 
grossed with polygamy or tolerated practices that had 
no higher moral sanction. The share that woman took 
in the religion of the nation attested the standard and 
estimation she had reached, even in those dark forests 
whose rudely clad people Roman civilization and refine- 
ment despised. There were no obscene mysteries con- 
nected with Druidism, as with the mystic rites of the 
vestal virgins as they were called in Pagan Rome. The 
marriage tie was next to indissoluble, and not, as in Rome 
at that day, a convenient social and domestic relation, that 
might be put on and off at the mere caprice or convenience 
of the parties, without reference to the fate of the helpless 
and dependent offspring. Whatever fate attended Druid- 
ism as a religion, as the faith of a sturdy people when the 
conqueror desolated their fields, intrenched their forests, 
and possessed themselves of their mountain passes, its 
principles have come down to us unimpaired, and with a 
vitality and energy that shapes and moulds the happiness 
of millions of industrious peoples now. Christianity sup- 



H% THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

planted Druidism, as a religion, in the forests of Germany, 
on the hills and in the valleys of the British Islands, but 
it did not stamp it out. The best of Druidism became 
incorporated with Chistianity, and is not only traceable 
to-day, even, in that faith and worship that distinguish 
faith and worship wherever the English and German 
tongues are spoken, but in the domestic and social rela- 
tions, and in the jurisprudence of those peoples whose 
common origin is found in the vicinity of those ancient, 
rude, circular forest temples, with their overarching trees, 
that furnished our ancestors with the model for the grace- 
ful Gothic forms that delight the Christian eye even to 
our own times. It may be that the traditions of our 
order have been broken here and there by the violence 
of contending factions in the centuries that have over- 
lapped each other, and amid the wreck of states and 
empires that have been crushed by the mighty collision 
of giant human forces, but in all this clash and agony 
the mild influences, the benevolent and sacred principles, 
the home-cementing gentleness and singleness of the 
heart's impulses in the family tie, the tenderness for off-' 
spring, the sturdy bravery of honor and truth, the whole- 
souled energy of charity, have kept the thread of their 
course through the labyrinth of wrong, of injustice, and 
of cruelty, and again manifest themselves in the cement- 
ing of new relations, assisting in new careers, blessing 
new homes, and becoming a new solace to crushed and 
bleeding hearts, in lands near and distant, and in homes 
proud and far off. They tend with generous step toward 
the palaces of the rich as well as to the hovels of the poor. 
But it really matters little as to what were the peculiar 
ceremonies enacted in ancient Druidic Groves, or the 
principles they taught, but it is an important question as 
to what we who have taken their name are doing and 



UNITED ANCIENT ORDER OF DRUIDS H9 

propose to do for the good of our fellow-men. Our 
country is full of secret associations, or, rather, I should 
say, of associations having for their object the promotion 
of human happiness in some of its multiplied forms. All 
of them, or, at least, many of them, are honestly striving 
to ameliorate human suffering. They care for the sick, 
they bury the dead, and they support the widow and the 
orphan. How faithfully they discharge their solemn 
duties it is not for me to say. 

Into the field of benevolent labor our order has also 
entered, and the public reports of the officers of our 
institution show how faithfully we have discharged the 
obligations. The care of the sick, the burying of the 
dead, and the support of the widow and the orphan is our 
work of love. Surely an organization which can show 
such results as this, such carefulness in the management 
of its finances, fidelity to the obligations it has assumed 
to its members, cannot fail to secure the confidence of 
the entire community. Of course we all appreciate the 
social aspects of our order ; how it tends to promote har- 
mony and brotherly love among its members ; how it 
fosters true courage and noble deeds ; how it frowns on 
all unworthy actions, and seeks to make men better in all 
the relations of life, as Father, Husband, Son, and 
Brother, we all who have passed within its mystic circle 
fully understand and appreciate. What we need espe- 
cially is to bring our organization conspicuously before 
the world. We should let our fellow-men know that 
Druidism not only has its circles and chapters among 
them, but that it is by its sublime yet simple teachings 
constantly tending to make its followers better, and to 
place society upon a higher plane of advancement. To 
thus tend to promote the wider diffusion of our principles 
and a knowledge of our existence, and the noble work we 



250 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

are doing, we should all constantly labor. We should 
seek to add to our members and our influence with each 
succeeding day and year. We want more Groves all 
over our broad and beautiful land, and it should be our 
aim to infuse into our membership, whether old or new, 
principles upon which Druidism is organized to the end 
that may put their due influence upon the world around 
us. And whatever any of us can do to promote true 
courage, good feeling, patience and concord, love and 
charity among our fellow-men, is simply to lay up a good 
reward for the time to come. It will not help us only, 
it helps our children, our families : those who are dearer 
to us than life itself; it is a positive blessing to society 
and to the world at large, and will bring to us all the 
consolations of well-spent lives. 

Brethren of the Druidic Order, into this honest, good 
work let us boldly go forth and each one of us do our 
part in the great life struggle that is before us, and as 
Druids and as men battle ever more for the right and 
the true. 



THE ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 

Historical. — This is one of the oldest fraternities in England, 
with more than one tradition as to its origin, the most popular 
of these tracing its ceremonies to usages handed down from 
Robin Hood and his Merry Men'. The modern Order endeavors 
to keep alive the worthy spirit which popular belief attributes to 
those generous outlaws. As the forest outlaws of old banded 
themselves together against unendurable tyranny, cultivating in 
their outlawry many virtues of manliness and kindness, and as 
later a better government organized the men of the forest to 
protect themselves and their households from lawless denizens 
and hurtful beasts, so these modern Foresters essay to cultivate 
among themselves the simple virtues of the forest, and have 
organized their associations with names reviving the early tradi- 
tions of English woodcraft. 

The written history of the Order begins with the institution 
of Court Perseverance, No. I, at Leeds, England, in 1790. At 
that time the title of " Ancient Royal Order of Foresters " was 
adopted, and as the Order grew a number of " Courts " were 
associated in a representative body named the " High Court," 
the subordinate courts reaching by 1834 the number of 358. In 
that year the action of the High Court was commonly regarded 
as arbitrary, and 342 subordinate courts repudiated its authority, 
and reconstructed the Order under the name of the "Ancient 
Order of Foresters." The " Royal Order " subsequently faded 
away to a few courts, but the reconstructed Order grew rapidly 
in numbers and power. 

In 1843 the Order resolved to elect permanent salaried officials, 
that its affairs might be managed with business methods. In 
1850 they secured legal recognition, with the legal registry of 
their rules, being the earliest affiliated friendly society to apply 
for registration under the law. At that time they had nearly 
70.000 members. They suffered from the defaulting of their 
treasurer in 1849, but in 1855 their membership had grown to 
100,000. They carefully gathered mortality and sick tables, which, 
though imperfect, yet greatly helped their work. 

In 1862 they sent £500 to relieve distress in the cotton manu- 
facturing districts of the United States. In 1863 they raised the 
standard of medical examination ; and in 1872 they began with 
new members a system of graduated assessments according to 
age, and perfected this system in 1882. They showed their public 
spirit in presenting in 1864 a lifeboat to the National Lifeboat 
Institution, and another in 1869. They are said to have had 

251 



252 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

900,000 members in 1898, attaining the second place in member- 
ship among the British affiliated friendly societies. 

Forestry was brought to the United States in 1832 by the 
formation of Court Good Speed, No. 201, in Philadelphia. There- 
after other Courts were instituted in the United States, but all 
proved short-lived until the institution of Court Brooklyn, No. 
4421, now No. 1, of Brooklyn, New York, on the 28th day of 
May, 1864. From this — the oldest living Court in America — 
Forestry has extended throughout the land. Until the year 1889 
the Order in America was under the jurisdiction of the High 
Court of England. In granting the privilege of establishing the 
Order in America, it was very- clearly admitted that practically 
home rule was to be allowed to the Order in the United States. 
The High Court of England unanimously granted the applica- 
tion for the establishment of a Subsidiary High Court "for the 
government of Districts and Courts in the United States of 
America." 

In 1888, however, the parent body eliminated the word " white " 
from the conditions of membership, and Foresters in America 
generally regarded this as an interference with their constitu- 
tional right of home rule, and a Subsidiary High Court was held 
at Minneapolis, Minn., in August, 1889, which, after two days' 
deliberation, declared for absolute home rule. 

In response to this independent movement the English body 
had some years before fostered the formation of a new High 
Court, yet connected with them. This body at first had made but 
slow progress, but by 1889 it had secured over 50,000 members, 
and despite the general disapproval of English action on the 
negro question, some Courts still cling to the English connection, 
and, though having only about 3000 members in the starting, 
had over 35,000 by the end of the century. 

Foresters of America. — This Order originated in a formal 
secession, at Minneapolis, Minn., August 13, 1889, from the Sub- 
sidiary High Court of the Ancient Order of Foresters in America. 
In a full recital of the differences between the English and 
American affiliated Orders, the representatives of thirteen Grand 
Courts severed their connection with the English Order. Curi- 
ously enough, the newly organized American Order began with 
thirteen Grand Courts in thirteen States of the Union, sub- 
ordinate to its Supreme Court. The new Order formulated new 
general laws, adopted new regalia and ritual, incorporated the 
American flag in its insignia, prefixed "Liberty" to the ancient 
motto of the Order, "Unity, Benevolence, and Concord," and 
established August 15th as "Foresters' Day," and the second 
Sunday in June as " Memorial Day." 

In 1879 a benevolent branch of the Ancient Order, known as 
the Knights of the Sherwood Forest, had been instituted at St. 
Louis, Mo. At the Philadelphia Subsidiary High Court m 1883 
this branch or appendant Order of Forestry was recognized as 
a Second Degree, and subsequently was formed into the semi- 



ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 253 

military or uniformed body among this Order of Foresters, with 
a Supreme Conclave of the World, numbering fifty subordinate 
Conclaves, and 1700 members. In 1889 a Third Degree was 
formed from the Ancient Order of Shepherds, which had been a 
Second Degree of English Forestry since 1835, but in 1889 had 
finally separated from that Order. 

Another branch is the Companions of the Forest, made up of 
Foresters and their women relatives and friends. The first 
" Circle " of these was organized in San Francisco in June, 1883. 
At the Detroit Subsidiary High Court in 1885 the Companions 
were recognized as a Fourth Degree of the Order, and in 1895 
they had increased to 20,000. 

Yet another branch, the Junior Foresters of America, was 
suggested by an English branch. They are confined to youths 
of from twelve to eighteen years of age. 

The Foresters of America had a membership in 1895 of 119,000 
and had then paid in endowments, in addition to sick and 
funeral benefits, about $4,000,000. 



INDEPENDENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 

The Independent Order of Foresters was founded at 
Newark, New Jersey, June 17, 1874. The experience 
of seven years led to a reorganization in 1881, when the 
old system of death assessments was changed to the 
present plan of assessments at stated times. Beginning 
with no resources except the energy and faithfulness of 
its members > the Order has paid all benefit claims, and 
carried out a wide work of extension, and, after over 
twenty years' work on the new basis, has a surplus of 
over $5,600,000. 

It extends over most of the United States and Canada, 
and throughout Great Britain and Ireland, and has been 
introduced into Norway, France, India, and Australia. 

The government of the Order is vested in a Supreme 
Court, and in the High Courts and the Subordinate and 
Companion Courts scattered throughout its jurisdiction, 
and is not only representative, but thoroughly democratic, 
and simple in the extreme, 



254 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

The Supreme Court is the legislative and also the 
supreme governing body of the Order, and is the final 
court of appeal in all cases. It is composed of its officers, 
who are elected or appointed at each regular triennial 
session thereof, and the representatives elected by the 
High Courts of the various States and Provinces of the 
United States and Canada, in the British Isles, and in 
Norway, India, and in Australia. Seven of the chief 
officers of the Supreme Court form the Executive Coun- 
cil, who, in the interim of the sessions of the Su- 
preme Court, manage the affairs of the Order in 
accordance with the provisions of its constitution and 
laws. 

The High Courts, which correspond to Grand Lodges 
of other societies, have the care of the Order in each 
country, province, or State, and are composed of their 
officers, who are elected annually or biennially, as the 
case may be, and the delegates elected by the courts 
within their respective territorial jurisdictions. At the 
present time there are ten High Courts in the Dominion 
of Canada, twenty in the United States, their jurisdiction 
extending from Maine to California, eight in the British 
Isles, and one in Norway. 

Courts may be located in any healthful locality where 
a sufficient number of suitable persons are found willing 
to join hands for the mutual protection of themselves 
and families and to apply for a charter. The courts are 
controlled and managed by the members thereof. Courts 
are excellent educational centers for the instruction and 
training of their members in parliamentary procedure, in 
the conduct of public business, and in the habits of thrift 
and self-reliance. From them delegates are sent to the 
various High Courts, which, as already stated, elect the 
representatives who constitute the Supreme Court. It is, 



ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 255 

therefore, pre-eminently an Order " of the people, by 
the people, and for the people." 

The progress and prosperity of the Independent Order 
of Foresters are due to the fact that its foundations have 
been laid on a solid financial basis, and that every de- 
partment of the Order has been managed on business 
principles, thereby securing for all Foresters large and 
varied benefits at the lowest possible cost consistent with 
safety and permanence. 

The Supreme Court makes annual returns to the Insur- 
ance Department of the Dominion of Canada, the Board 
of Trade of Great Britain and Ireland, and to the Insur- 
ance Departments of the various States in the United 
States in which the Order is doing business. The Order 
is subject to and has frequently received inspection at 
the hands of the officers of various Insurance Depart- 
ments. 

The Independent Order of Foresters is now in the 
thirtieth year of its existence, and, therefore, has passed 
the experimental stage. It has been tried, and never in 
any case has it been found wanting. It has paid every 
honest claim promptly and in full, and as a result it is 
now making progress more rapidly than at any former 
period in its history. 

The Independent Order of Foresters seems to owe 
much of its recent wonderful prosperity to the remarka- 
ble talents of its Chief Ranger, Dr. Oronhyatekha. This 
gentleman was born, a full-blood Indian, at the Six 
Nations Reservation, near Brantwood, Ont., in 1841, 
and received his early education at an Industrial School 
for young Indians. He was later sent to the Wesleyan 
Academy at Wilbraham, Mass., and entered Kenyon 
College in Ohio, and subsequently studied at the Uni- 
versity of Toronto. During all these years he was mainly 



256 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

dependent for support upon his own exertions. He sub- 
sequently studied medicine and was regularly admitted 
to practice, but, joining the Foresters, he showed so un- 
usual abilities in building up that Order that, with 
universal approval, that has been laid upon him as his 
exclusive occupation. Under his care the Order has 
enjoyed unexampled prosperity, and has recently erected 
at Toronto, for its headquarters, a magnificent eleven- 
story building in the most desirable part of the city. 

The membership of the Order in 1882 was 1019. In 
1903 it was 210,969. Its accumulated funds in 1903 
were $6,442,938. It paid benefits in 1902 of $1,748,381 
and since its establishment its benefits have amounted 
to $13,207,572. 



FORESTERS' ISLAND 

A monument to the energy and good taste of Dr. 
Oronhyatekha, and a valuable aid to the substantial pros- 
perity of the Independent Order of Foresters, is Foresters' 
Island, in the Bay of Quinte, within sight of their eleven- 
story Temple in the city of Toronto. 

The island was originally twenty-two acres in extent; 
the winds and waves have washed up sand on its southern 
shore so as to considerably increase its area. 

Looking over the general layout of the island, it can 
be seen how the idea of a beautiful summer resting-place 
for the Independent Order of Foresters grew out of Dr. 
Oronhyatekha's desire to get a summer cottage in a quiet 
but easily-reached spot to which he could withdraw for 
rest and recreation from the strain and stress of directing 
the business of a great order. Early in the spring of 
1894 the doctor decided to build a cottage of seven rooms. 



ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 257 

and crossing over with a boatload of lumber from 
Deseronto one Wednesday morning he set a party of men 
to work shoveling away a snowbank eight feet deep on 
the place where he decided to build a rustic cottage of 
seven rooms. On Monday following, so rapidly did he 
press on the work, that he moved in and began to " rest." 
Rest in Dr. Oronhyatekha's case is a change of scene 
and a change of that to which he directs his energies. 
When he bought Foresters' Island it was a flat piece of 
rock covered with a foot or two of soil overgrown with 
a thick tangle of woods, and bordered on the southern 
side by an extensive marsh. On the western side 
the woods did not come down to the water, but left 
a wide, grass-covered, park-like strip, which made 
an ideal spot for the holding of picnics and the like. 
Even then Foresters' Island had a natural beauty of its 
own, but it was a beauty which the doctor thought could 
be vastly improved by a little judicious landscape garden- 
ing, following nature's methods. 

The undesirable varieties of trees were cut out of the 
tangled woods, lawns were sodded and paths laid out. 
In the meantime the first cottage, called " The Wigwam," 
continued to grow until it was a handsome house of 
seventeen rooms, with balconies, verandas, bathrooms, 
and hot-air heating. The next building erected was the 
Pavilion, as a place for shelter for picnic parties. This 
building, too, has undergone successive extensions 
until the present is now only a small part of the 
original structure. Mrs. Oronhyatekha, who has always 
taken the keenest delight and interest in the island, had 
a log cabin erected, constructed of the rough, unbarked 
logs cut out of the woods, in order to have as fitting and 
rustic a spot as possible. This building, though still 
called the " Log Cabin," was so much enlarged aitd im- 



258 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

proved by Mr. Acland Oronhyatekha, who lived here for 
several summers, that the log cabin character has been 
largely lost. Several other cottages, more or less pre- 
tentious, were erected to accommodate any friends who 
might stay a few days. 

How the Work Grew. — The spell of building and 
planning was now upon Dr. Oronhyatekha, who, when 
wearied with the strenuous work of building up a great 
fraternal order, found rest and recreation in bending the 
natural agencies and surroundings to his will and plan- 
ning and constructing a miniature model summer city on 
Foresters' Island. The people from the Bay of Quinte 
district began to show their approval of the doctor's 
judgment and taste by coming in increasing numbers to 
picnic on the island, and to accommodate them a circular 
dining pavilion, of which the roof was supported on 
pillars, was erected, with a small kitchen in the rear. In 
the center of this airy dining-room a fountain splashed 
into a great basin, in which reeds and other aquatic plants 
were growing. 

With the conception of the larger scheme to make this 
a summer rallying place for Foresters, and a place to 
which the hardworking staff of the Order in the Temple 
Building might be brought for a few days' rest, came the 
conviction that more hotel accommodation must be pro- 
vided, and to this end a handsome three-story hotel of 
about fifty rooms rose up about the dining pavilion in the 
form of two L-shaped wings to right and left. The cir- 
cular pavilion with its fountain has become a bay in the 
front of the large dining-room, while in addition to the 
spacious wings to right and left large kitchens, serving- 
rooms, and accessories have been erected in the rear. 
Painted and furnished in white throughout in the interior 
with painted floors, bathrooms, large windows, and wide 



ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 259 

verandas on each of the three floors, it makes an ideal 
summer hotel. Everywhere are cool, shady spots over- 
looking the blue waters of Bay of Quinte and the beauti- 
ful opposite shores of either Hastings or Prince Edward 
County. 

How a Cottage Became a Castle. — These buildings, 
with extensive board, gravel, and granolithic walks, with 
the gradual extension of the park throughout the island, it 
was thought marked the completion of the improvements, 
but after a very hard winter's work Dr. Oronhyatekha 
realized that he must either take a lengthy ocean voyage 
or actively occupy his mind at some open-air work. 
Wanting to remain in constant touch with Toronto, Dr. 
Oronhyatekha decided to occupy himself with the build- 
ing of a cottage on the extreme northeast corner of the 
island. The " Wigwam " had become somewhat in a 
sense the administrative department of the island, and as 
such, with its constant comings and goings, did not enable 
the doctor to carry out his ideas as to his personal quar- 
ters. His first idea was to make a small cottage in this 
corner of the island, which is covered with oak trees 
and which has been called, in keeping with the history 
of the Order, Sherwood Forest. On April 26, 1901, Dr. 
Oronhyatekha drove the first nail and the cottage was 
begun. As the building grew the doctor kept improving 
and extending it as he went along, all the planning and 
arranging being done by himself. From a simple cot- 
tage it grew into a stately mansion of thirty rooms, of 
which eighteen are bedrooms. From its battlemented 
towers, from which mimic cannon frown down upon the 
craft passing up and down the bay, it got the name of the 
Castle, the Castle in Sherwood Forest, which is in every 
way appropriate to its Forestric environment. For two 
seasons the Supreme Chief Ranger has devoted his 



260 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

" idle " moments, or, more strictly, his few moments off 
duty, to laying out and completing this house, and, like 
those of the other buildings which have been built under 
his immediate direction, it is an outward and visible 
manifestation of the man. Its high ceilings, even up to 
the third story, give an air of coolness and lightness, while 
its large rooms and wide halls impress the visitor with 
rest and comfort and spaciousness. Nothing is cramped 
or forced out of its place because of something else. All 
is ordered, methodical, and well done. 

Sherwood Forest Castle. — From the front the main 
building is seen to be flanked by wings on right and left, 
which rise into castellated towers, while in the center, and 
rising up above a spacious balcony, a still higher tower. 
The flagstaffs of these towers enable the doctor to fly the 
three flags which represent the genius and expansion of 
the Independent Order of Foresters. From the center 
tower waves the beautiful flag of the Order, while the 
Union Jack and Stars and Stripes fly from the right and 
left wings. On each side of the front door is a wide 
veranda, giving a wide view of the town of Deseronto, 
with its factories and tall cranes and chimneys, and down 
the bay between Hastings and Prince Edward. The 
front door leads into a spacious hall floor, as is the ground 
floor of the house, with oiled hardwood and paneled walls 
and ceiling, with quarter-cut oak relieved with a border 
of birdseye maple. A stairway leads up from this hall 
to the upper stories. To the left is the drawing-room 
and to the right the dining-room, while behind the draw- 
ing-room is the billiard-room, and off the dining-room a 
small breakfast-room. These apartments are handsomely 
furnished, a feature being three beautiful screens bought 
by the doctor in Japan. These are of mahogany with 
landscapes Worked in in gold, while in the foreground are 



ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 261 

beautiful birds in a mosaic of ivory and mother-of-pearl. 
The carpets are similar to the purple floor-coverings of 
the lodge rooms of the Foresters' Temple. 

The Toronto Times. 



THE FORESTERS IN AUSTRALIA 

Addresses * 

by supreme chief ranger dr. oronhyatekha and 
hon. dr. w. f. montague. 

Major J. A. McGillivray, in proposing the toast of 
the Supreme Chief Ranger, said he claimed the right to do 
so because of his seniority on the Executive Council of 
the Order, extending over twenty years. " We wanted to 
give him this banquet/' he said, "on his return, but his 
modesty prevailed. Then we thought it would perhaps be 
better to have a united banquet — Oronhyatekha and Mon- 
tague. Oronhyatekha said : i No — Montague/ And though 
they both came back from Australia together, in a sense 
this is only a reception to one, but in the heart of every 
Forester we all mean Oronhyatekha, too. I wish to say 
to Foresters here present — and I know in saying it to 
them they say it to me in silence in return — that I am 
thankful the Chief is well to-night. He is strong to-night 
— giving promise in this that he is going to be with us for 
a long time to come. We are members of his creation, 
of his domain to-day. Twenty years ago we were a 
struggling infant. To-day we are becoming stalwart in 
our manhood, and as the years go by, if we have him 

* At a reception given to Dr. Montague by the Foresters in 
Toronto, Canada. 



262 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

with us, we will go on to even greater successes than 
in the past. 

Our hearts, our hopes are all with thee, 

Our beloved chief. 
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, 

Are with thee, our returned chief. 
Our faith triumphant o'er our fear, 

Are all with thee, are all with thee. 

Reply by Dr. Oronhyatekha : 

I appreciate to the fullest extent the very kind man- 
ner in which my old colleague has proposed this toast, 
and also the very hearty manner in which you have been 
so kind as to receive this toast. It 'is true, I am strong 
and hearty to-night. And why should I not be, sur- 
rounded by trusted and true brethren and by gentlemen 
who sympathize with us in our great work for humanity 
through the medium and through the instrumentality of 
the Independent Order of Foresters? It is not my pur- 
pose to take up much of your time, because of the brother 
who is to follow. I want to give him all the time for the 
purpose of speaking to you, as he alone can do, in behalf 
of our noble Order. I said a while ago it is a little over 
ten months since we gave him a send-off from this very 
same room, when he was starting on his mission for the 
Independent Order of Foresters to the great Island Conti- 
nent on the other side of the globe. I shall not endeavor 
to lay before you the success, or, rather, the successes, 
which he achieved in his work on behalf of the Order 
among our brethren in Australia. But let it suffice when I 
tell you that during the months preceding his advent in 
Australia the progress of the Order was not so great as 
soon after his arrival. The Order was planted by myself 
in Australia by the institution of a court in the city of 
Melbourne on the 8th of April, 1901, and upon the 1st 



ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 263 

of June, 1901, we had secured for the society 8664 
members. 

Brother Dr. Montague arrived in Australia, I think, 
some time in April, and from June 1, or, rather, from the 
month of June down to the present time the admissions, 
or, rather, the applications for membership to the Order 
in Australia rose from an average of about 60 a month 
to over 300 a month, an increase during the interval 
of the arrival of Dr. Montague and his colleagues, some 
time in April and December 1, in the membership of 
the Order in the great colonies of over 1500. These 
figures do not contain the applications for membership 
which I brought home with me in my grip of between 200 
and 300, so that we have these figures to testify in the 
strongest manner possible to the great success which 
rewarded the efforts of Brother Dr. Montague to popu- 
larize the Foresters in that great country. But the 
increase in membership is the smallest part of his suc- 
cess there. We have added the Premier of the govern- 
ment, Hon. Mr. Barton, to the order. We have many 
members of his government, including Sir John Forrester, 
former Premier of the Province of Victoria. We have 
also the Premier of the colony, or, rather, as they call 
it, the State of Victoria; and when I was in Australia I 
took occasion to object very strongly to their calling the 
provinces or colonies states, and said that while the name 
was good enough for the country to the south of 
us, it would not do for us. However, they did not 
consult me when selecting the names of their local terri- 
tories, or otherwise they would have the name right, as 
we have it in Canada. I believe I am speaking in the 
presence of two Americans, my old friends here, both 
excellent gentlemen, both patriotic Americans, and both 
Canadians. I say we have the Premier of the Province 



264 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

or State of Victoria and all his cabinet as members of 
the Independent Order of Foresters. I shall not refer 
to the endorsation which was given by the government 
of Victoria, but will leave that to my friend on my right. 
But it is one of the greatest victories that the Order has 
ever won, and one of the most perfect, not only for the 
principles of the Order, but of its methods of work, and 
these gentlemen, in endorsing the Order and its methods, 
supplemented that endorsation by becoming members of 
the Order themselves. Now, gentlemen, the Order is 
prospering, not only in Australia, but in many of our 
other jurisdictions throughout the world, because the 
best evidence of the strength and prosperity of an Order 
is its state of finances. Upon January 1, 1901, we had 
in our accumulated funds not less than $4,483,364, and 
upon January 1, 1902, we had $5,341,711. That is 
to say, we have added during the year just past to the 
accumulated funds of the Order, to the strength of the 
institution, $858,347. We had no less than between 
7000 and 8000 applications for membership during the 
month of December — I cannot give you the exact figures 
— and yet my old friend, the general manager for the 
United States, was grumbling and saying that we should 
have had at least 10,000 applications during the month 
of December. But instead of this we have only the very 
small figures of 7000 applications for membership, or 
bringing the total number of applications received dur- 
ing the year 1901 to the magnificent figures of 37,533. I 
think these figures, brethren and gentlemen, will show 
you that the Independent Order of Foresters is not losing 
vigor, is not losing its hold upon the public. 

I shall not detain you longer, except to again thank 
you for the very cordial reception you have given to me 
personally, and also to say that this reception is given 



ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 265 

to the honorable gentleman who sits on my right, who 
deserves the thanks of every Forester for the work he 
has done in the fields to which he was sent a little over 
ten months ago. I thank you for the very cordial man- 
ner in which you have received the toast to the Chief of 
this great Order. 



Address in Reply to the Toast, " Our Guest." 

by dr. w. f. montague. 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: On an occasion some 
months ago the Executive Council and members of the 
Independent Order of Foresters did me the honor to 
extend to me a farewell in this room, and I remember 
the difficult position in which I was placed in being asked 
to make a speech without any preparation whatever, and 
I promised myself then that I should never be in that 
position again. I am sorry to say that the promises of 
humanity are frail and I am here to-night in the same 
position that I was ten and a half months ago. However, 
that is all the better for you, and consequently you have 
no reason to complain. I must thank you, sir, and 
through you this splendid gathering of citizens, for the 
kindly reception of the toast which has been drunk in 
my honor, and express my very warm thanks to the Chief 
for the kindly words in which he referred to me in the 
remarks he made to this splendid gathering to-night. 
Before I proceed to say what I wish to say in connection 
with the toast proper I am going to say how r much it 
pleases me to see at the head of the table some of my old 
colleagues in the House of Commons of Canada, and to 



266 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

be able to say to them that they are looking better now 
than they are in opposition. [Hear, hear.] For when a 
man is in Parliament, supporting a government, he makes 
about thirteen requests, twelve of which are refused, and 
one of which is partially granted, so that it becomes neces- 
sary for him to grumble. But when in opposition nobody 
grumbles, except at the government, and God knows they 
always need to be grumbled at, whether a Tory govern- 
ment or a Grit government, it matters not. 

However, I say again, it gives me very much pleasure 
to see these gentlemen here, and I am sure that when 
they speak we shall be told many things of interest, 
especially to me, who have been absent during the past 
ten and a half months, and am here to-night for the pur- 
pose of getting the hiatus filled of political information 
from Mr. Hughes and Mr. Clarke, who have so closely 
w r atched political matters in Canada during the past year. 
I want to say that a young man who goes to the continent 
of Australia, and meets the warm-hearted citizens of that 
new commonwealth, will not be sorry for the visit he 
has made, for within the shores of that island continent 
and under the Southern Cross hearts are as warm and 
homes as hospitable and greetings as hearty as are to be 
found in any spot of the British empire that belts the 
world. 

I had heard before I went to Australia of the hos- 
pitality of Australians, and of the heartiness of their 
welcome to strangers, but I say to you Canadians to-night 
that the half has not been told, and I am sure the Supreme 
Chief Ranger will bear me out by reason of his knowl- 
edge of the people during the brief time he had the 
pleasure of visiting them, when he was loaded down with 
expressions of good will, of the kindness, and of the 
hospitable feeling of our fellow-Britishers in Australia. 



ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 267 

He was loaded down with souvenirs, from kangaroos to 
cockatoos, and gold from 'the mines of the various States 
of the Commonwealth, which, I am sure, he will always 
keep in pleasant memory of his visit to the hospitable 
colony on the other side of the sea. 

I want to say how much pleasure it gives me to greet 
our American friends here to-night, and especially my 
friend to my left, and, if he will pardon me, I will tell 
him a story that I heard in that far-off island of the 
Pacific, and it is a capital story to illustrate the magnifi- 
cent conception of the American country sometimes held 
by Americans, but I am sure not held by my friend from 
the city of Detroit. The story is that two Americans — and 
I heard this in Australia— and I may say that you must 
go abroad to hear facts and truth in regard to your native 
place — were visiting in England. One was a dairyman 
and the other was his friend, and he said to an English- 
man whom they were visiting, " I have a magnificent dairy 
at home," and then he proceeded to tell him how many 
thousands of acres of land he had, how many cows, and 
how many thousands of pounds of butter and cheese he 
made, and after he had piled up all this monumental piece 
of work of information w T ith regard to the immensity of 
his dairy, he turned to his American friend and said : " Is 
not this so ? " and his friend looked at the Englishman 
and he said to him : " Mister, of course I am only 
acquainted with this gentleman. I haven't an intimate 
knowledge of his business affairs. I do know that he 
runs a dairy. I am not quite sure how large that dairy 
is. I don't know the details of it, but I do know this — 
that it is large enough to run two saw mills with the 
buttermilk." [ Laughter. ] 

I may say to-night to my friend, Mr. Stephenson, 
and I say it with a very great deal of pleasure, that in 



268 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

the States or the Provinces of Australia, which I had the 
honor of visiting, I found an exceedingly warm feeling 
for the country from which he comes. And I found it 
based on the good and sufficient reason that they have 
sprung from the one great British empire and that they 
and Canadians and Australians are brothers, even if 
under different flags, and that consequently there was a 
warm spot in their hearts for the people of the American 
Republic. But if I found a warm feeling for the people 
of the American Republic, what shall I say of that depth 
of sentiment which I found for Canadians and for the 
Canadian land? [Applause.] If I were able to tell 
you to-night one-half of the depth of that feeling which 
exists in Australia for Canada and for Canadians you 
would be proud of the fact that you are Canadians and 
proud of the fact that we were so closely connected by 
ties of country and nationality with our brothers under 
the Southern Cross. And I want to say just a word 
here of a personal nature. When I went to Melbourne 
one of the first men I met was Col. Rae, editor of The 
Melbourne Herald, who had served in South Africa as a 
war correspondent. And the first word he said to me 
when he came upon the platform to take the chair at a 
lecture I was giving under charitable auspices was, " Are 
you from Canada?" And I said, " Yes." And he said, 
" Do you know Sam Hughes? " [Applause, laughter, and 
cheers.] I said, " I would not be a Canadian if I did not 
know Sam Hughes, and I am proud to be able to tell 
you that, Colonel Rae," and I am proud to say this, and I 
hope the press will take note of it, that Colonel Rae said 
that among the most valuable services rendered by 
Canadians to the Motherland in South Africa were the 
services rendered by our distinguished friend, the member 
from South Victoria. And speaking just in connection 



ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 269 

with that thought, I remember that I sat at this table 
some ten and a half months ago when Surgeon-General 
Ryerson spoke briefly of the heroes from Australia on 
the field of battle, and he said to me that he hoped I 
would find the same feeling of regard among the soldiers 
of Australia, who had gone back to Australia, with 
regard to the heroism of our Canadian boys. And I may 
tell you gentlemen to-night that I did not meet a boy 
from Queensland or New South Wales, or Tasmania or 
Victoria or New Zealand who did not feel that it was 
half of his life to have met his Canadian fellow-patriots 
on the distant fields of South Africa, and to have seen the 
bravery and the heroism of our Canadian boys. Prouder 
than all were they of the fact that, as one said to me, " The 
next man to me was a man who could not speak a word 
of the English language, but he was fighting for Britain's 
flag and for Britain's honor," and I shall never forget 
that as long as I am a citizen of the empire to which we 
all belong. 

Sir, I discovered in Australia two principal traits of 
racial character — the one pride of the land of their birth — 
and I cannot explain to you in words to-night how 
wrapped up are our Australian fellow-citizens in the 
island to which they belong — and the other was pride in 
the empire of which they form a part. And the only 
question in their mind was, would Canada stand to the 
end, for they never have thought or feeling that Austra- 
lians will give up the empire of which they form a part, 
and I was proud to be able to tell them this — and I am 
sure that I echoed your sentiments when I told them so — 
that the last drop of Canadian blood would be spilt and 
the last dollar in the Canadian treasury would be spent 
before the British flag would be hauled down in this 
Canada of ours. [Applause.] It is no time or place to 



270 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

say something here in regard to the practical results which 
may flow from communication between these two colonies. 
They are bound to be greater friends in the future than 
ever they were in the past. I shall take occasion, how- 
ever, shortly to discuss before the public of Canada, I 
hope, these more material questions which relate to closer 
relations between these two great colonies. 

For there never was a field where Canadian enterprise 
and Canadian genius and Canadian pluck and Canadian 
energy have greater opportunities than among the sons 
of the southern seas. 

But I want to say just a word or two to-night with 
regard to the Independent Order of Foresters in that 
great country, and, first of all, I want to say a word as to 
the modesty of the Supreme Chief. When he referred 
to Australia he forgot to tell you that his. visit to Aus- 
tralia was an ovation from the time he landed on the 
island, and was welcomed by Sir John Douglas, until the 
day when the Mayor of Brisbane bade him good-by and 
godspeed on his journey home. He forgot to tell you 
that he addressed audiences of two, three, and four 
thousand people in the great metropolitan cities of the 
Australian Commonwealth. He forgot to tell you that 
in the great intellectual and commercial center, the city 
of Melbourne, he was tendered a banquet, at which every 
member, with the exception of one, of the government of 
that State was present, and that a cabinet meeting itself 
was adjourned in order that they might be able to do 
honor, as they said, to the distinguished Canadian, the 
head of the Independent Order of Foresters. And if the 
Chief of this Order had friends when he landed in Aus- 
tralia, he had a great many more when he came away ; and 
I want to say this to the politicians of Canada and to the 
Canadian citizens generally, that Dr. Oronhyatekha, the 



ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 271 

head of your great institution, has done more to adver- 
tise Canada among our Australian fellow-citizens and to 
advertise Canada in a number of other countries of the 
world than all the commercial agencies we have ever 
employed in the hands of the government for the pro- 
motion of the knowledge of Canada among the other 
peoples of the world. [Applause.] Many a time have I 
thrown out this thought, that this great Order, inter- 
national in its character, was a portion of the cement 
which bound the empire together, and I am proud to tell 
you that in our Australian colonies or in the States of 
the Australian Commonwealth to-day the great institu- 
tion of which the Supreme Chief is the head is now 
recognized as part of that international strength which 
is binding the different portions of the empire together 
at the present time. Now, sir, I do not hesitate to say 
that there is no country in the world where there are 
better insurance institutions than in Australia. 

In conclusion, I am prouder now than ever I am a 
Canadian, for, fine as Australia is, it is not as fine as 
Canada. Perhaps I am a little prejudiced, but Canada 
had a finer heritage than Australia. Another thing, I 
am proud of it that I am a British subject and a member 
of that empire, which belts the world. I have come back 
from Australia still more convinced that the future of 
the empire is in the hands of its colonies, and that Joe 
Chamberlain is right in his policy. 

Canadian Order of Foresters.— This Order sprung 
from the Independent Order of Foresters in 1879. It 
started with 850 members, and in 1898 had 23,000. It is 
one of four branches of Forestry in Canada, and not the 
largest by any means, but in 1898 it reported that since or- 
ganization it had paid in insurance and benefits $1,297,356. 



272 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

ANNUAL CHURCH SERVICE 
A Sermon * 

BY VENERABLE ARCHDEACON E. DAVIS, A. M. 

" O, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and His 
mercy endureth forever." — Psalm cxxxvi. I. 

We are assembled to-day in compliance with the order 
of the Supreme Chief Ranger, in the circular issued some 
time ago, which instructed the members of the Order 
" To assemble in some place of worship and there to give 
thanks to Almighty God for His many mercies and pray 
for the continuance of His great kindness," and he closes 
his circular with these touching words, as a reason for 
our thanksgiving service : " To the end that humanity 
may be still further blessed, and God's name glorified 
through the beneficent work of our beloved Order." Let 
that, then, be the object of our service and the aim of our 
lives — God glorified and man benefited. 

It is surely our duty, as it is our privilege, to assemble 
together as Foresters and give our most hearty thanks 
to our Heavenly Father for the great blessings we have 
enjoyed, and the many mercies He has given us. 

This beautiful Psalm is a continual flow of thanks- 
giving for several specific mercies, such as the deliverance 
from Og, King of Bashan. 

When Israel was marching northward, out of its 

* The annual church service at Forester's Island was conducted 
in the pavilion. The service was conducted by Venerable Arch- 
deacon E. Davis, of London, Ont, who, in the absence of Bishop 
Baldwin, is acting as bishop's commissary for the Didc'ese of 
Huron, 



ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 273 

desert sojourn, there must have been many a quaking 
heart when the vast and warlike preparations of the 
enemies were known. Og was a giant — one of the 
remnants of a fierce race, who had in the past lorded 
it over a large part of Western Asia. His Kingdom was 
extensive and rich — full of cities and people, with strong 
natural fortresses. 

But full of faith in God, right up to the frowning walls 
of the great fortress the aged Moses led the army of 
Israel. He did not wait for Dg to come out against him, 
but marched forward to the giant's capital and by the 
suddenness and determinaion of his attack made havoc 
of the city and gained a glorious victory. The old 
domination of Bashan was wiped out, and the land be- 
came the inheritance of the tribe of Manasseh. 

In all the memories of Israel's wonderful history this 
victory held a conspicuous place. The story of Og was 
told from father to son through all the generations of 
the National life ; and history shows that it was intro- 
duced into the religious service as a subject of their 
thanksgiving and a lesson for their faith. This was a 
psalm for public service, to be engaged in by all. The 
nation felt its ancient victory to be a present blessing and 
regarded it as a pledge of God's future care. 

The Beneficent Work of the I. O. F. — Let us, 
brethren, apply the lesson to ourselves and strive to 
profit by their example. As I speak of this great world- 
wide Order of the Independent Order of Foresters, and 
the marvelous blessings God has granted us, we shall 
see, I am sure, cause for thanksgiving and grounds for 
rejoicing as well as hope for the future. The position 
the Independent Order of Foresters holds to-day is a 
most remarkable one. As we look back to 1881 and see 
it in its infant and helpless struggle for life, and now look 



274 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

at it in its giant manhood and prosperity, is it, I say, 
not remarkable? 

In 1 88 1 it had a membership of 369 and a deficit of 
$4000. But it continued its march in the face of all 
discouragements, and it soon gathered force and strength. 
In 1890 the membership reached 12,349, and the debt 
was converted into a surplus of $188,130.86. In 1900 
the membership was up to 164,610 and the surplus to 
$3,778,543.50, and to-day it has a membership of over 
200,000, and the surplus ha» reached the magnificent sum 
of $5,654,666.03. This surely is evidence of wonderful 
prosperity. Is there not cause for thanksgiving? But, 
further, this Order has paid out dring the year ending 
April 30th, 1902, in benefits to the sick, the aged, the 
widow, and the fatherless, the sum of $1,556,291.52, 
besides adding to our reserve fund the sum of 
$817,369.96. This, too, is surely a cause for thanks- 
giving. 

The Order has paid in benefits during its twenty-five 
years of active service about $11,500,000, and carries 
insurance to the amount of over $220,000,000, and con- 
tinues to pay out monthly over $130,000. What a bless- 
ing this has been. How many widows have been 
helped ? 

How many fatherless children have been provided for 
through this agency? Christian brethren, it is surely 
some privilege to be a co-worker in making provision for 
the afflicted and needy around us. It is one of the 
grandest objects in which we may be united. Next to 
the spiritual work of the Church, there is nothing more 
noble, more elevating, more unselfish, more in keeping 
with the spirit of the Christian religion than the grand 
work this noble Order is doing. 

The Work Tested. — Test the work of the Order by 



ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 275 

the commands laid down in the inspired Book of God. In 
Galatians vi. 10 it is written : " As we have opportunity, 
let us do good unto all men." In James i. 2J we read : 
" Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father 
is this to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction 
and to keep himself unspotted from the world." And 
what does our Lord Jesus Christ teach us in the story of 
the Good Samaritan? Is it not interest in and love for 
our brother ? Oh ! for more of that spirit. May God 
open such hearts and touch and move them by his love 
and grace. Pure love towards humanity can only spring 
from love to God. Only he who loves God with all his 
heart and soul and strength can for God's sake love his 
neighbor as himself. Oh ! what love and compassion we 
see in the life and work of Jesus Christ. He loved us, 
He died for us. Thank God for every institution which 
encourages and helps on this work, which was, and 
is, so dear to Him. I am proud to belong to an 
Order which is engaged in this Christlike work. 
Brethren, in every man behold a brother and do him 
all the good you can. I thank God for what has been 
accomplished, and I pray the work may go on and 
prosper. 

The record of this Order is such that its mem- 
bers may be proud. Much of the success is due to the 
master mind of our Supreme Chief Ranger, whose genius, 
worth, and energy has placed the Independent Order of 
Foresters in the foremost rank of fraternal institutions. 
We thank God for this work for our race. We thank 
God for all the Order has done to dry the orphan's tears 
and soothe the widow's breast. It has comforted broken 
hearts and brightened human homes. Shall we not 
resolve here and now that, God helping us, we will strive 
to help on every cause whose aim is to benefit society? 



276 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Let us have unwavering faith in and sincere love for 
Jesus Christ, the Saviour of men. As " He went about 
doing good," so let us follow that bright example. For 
all the good work done by our noble Order let God be 
praised. Let each and every member help on the good 
work, and feel it a privilege as well as a duty to co-operate 
with the Supreme Chief Ranger and his officers in ad- 
vancing the interests of the Order, which has done so 
much good in the world. May God be glorified and man 
blessed. 

This great fraternal society has now been planted in 
nearly every country in the w r orld by the persevering 
energy of the Supreme Chief Ranger, and it has enrolled 
in its membership the leading men of all professions — 
men capable of examining its principles and scrutinizing 
its workings. In its private meetings it encourages 
friendship and brotherly love. It looks after the sick 
and makes provision for the permanently disabled, 
whether from sickness or accident, and in old age, when 
man especially needs a helping hand, it comes to his 
assistance in the provision it makes him. Thus it works 
for man during his life, as well as making provision for 
the family after his death. For all these benefits give 
God thanks and pray for His continued favors. The 
spirit of harmony and good-will which prevails in the 
Order, such as was seen at that great meeting of the 
Supreme Court recently held in California, is another 
cause for thanksgiving. Instead of envy, hatred, and 
malice, there v/as brotherly love and good-will. But 
enough has been said, I trust, to call forth the thankful- 
ness of our very souls, and from the past we gather hope 
for the future. 

Remember, brethren, we are here not for excursions 
and worldly pleasure, but to give thanks to Almighty God 



ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS . 277 

for his mercies. May our conduct be such as not to rob 
our service of all merit. Let our prayers be not from the 
lips alone, but from the heart. And may the constancy 
of our lives show forth the sincerity of our hearts that 
we may be accepted of God, and when this life be over 
may we each, through the mercy of God and the merits 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, receive the " well done, good 
and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord/' 
I will say no more. May God bless you all and make 
us each abound in every good word and work to the honor 
and glory of His holy name, and to the well-being of all 
around us. 



MEMORIAL ADDRESS* 

BY GEN. GEORGE B. LOUD, FORMERLY ACTING STATE SUPT. 
PUBLIC EDUCATION OF LOUISIANA. 

My Friends: Many words in our language have been 
exalted as having especial sweetness and significance. 
Mother, home, friend, country, and many others, too 
long a list to be enumerated, are watchwords which 
inspire the purest ideals and noblest deeds ; yet one by 
one that which they represent passes from our lives. 
The silence of the grave closes over our dear ones. We 
see them no longer in their accustomed places, and our 
hearts grow heavy with sorrow. Life for a time loses 
its charm, and we are desolate indeed. Then a ray of 
light pierces the gloom. Memory whispers that all is 
not lost. Those we have loved, who have made the 
brightness of our lives, return to us by its light, and we 

* Delivered before the United Courts of the " Foresters of 
America," Carnegie Hall, New York City, June 5th, 1904. 



278 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

see them in the guise of other days. The loving words, 
the tender ministrations, the communion of soul with 
soul, even the garments they wore are made real, and in 
memory they are with us again. Blessed memory! It 
is well that occasionally we should pause to pay tribute 
at thy shrine, for thou alone art constant; nothing can 
rob us of thy peace if we too have been true. In the 
dreariest day or the darkest night we may withdraw into 
silence and recall from out the past the scenes we en- 
joyed, the faces we loved. And he is happy, indeed, 
who can do this with no tinge of bitterness or regret. 
O Memory ! thy chamber walls are hung with unforget- 
able pictures. Old Age never exists in Memory's bliss- 
ful land. There the lines of mutability are not written. 

Every day we are building for Eternity. It should 
be an inspiration for the best of what we are capable, 
that as we are, so shall we live in the hearts of those 
who will sorrow because of our going out. Yet even 
here Memory is our steadfast friend. It is the pleasant 
things of life, the bright spots, the friendly hand-clasp, 
the eyes which looked lovingly into our own, which we 
muse upon when bereft of the living presence. Our 
tender thoughts of them soften and sweeten us who 
linger behind. They are tenderer to the living who are 
true to the dead, and these communions with them ag- 
grandize life, broaden its range of vision and afford us 
a glimpse of that ideal life, touched with a diviner com- 
prehension and toned to a diviner calm. 

The once great lawyer, orator, and poet of this city, 
who was sometimes called infidel and atheist, yet a great 
teacher in the school of patriotism, has likened our life 
to a traveled road at the end of which is a great wayside 
inn where all must meet and the only salutation is " Good- 
Night." This cannot be. All reason cries out against 



ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 279 

it. The night he would describe is but the passing 
shadow of an hour. This inn is not a " windowless 
palace of death/' but rather a palace of life, wherein 
Hope hath set her many windows facing to the sky, and 
in every pure life an abiding faith has fixed an immovable 
star that shines and shines until it is lost in the blazing 
sunshine of eternal life. 

Charity throws a silvery mantle over the failings, the 
shortcomings of those who have preceded us into the 
mysterious future. It is the good men do which we 
contemplate, and w T hich lives after them. It is rare 
indeed that something of praise may not be truly spoken 
beside each open grave. Remembrance of their acts of 
charity and deeds of kindness, and the cherished memory 
of their generous and lofty characters — a rich legacy to 
us — will burst into blossom and lavish a fragrance on the 
air; and these treasures bequeathed will ever abide w T ith 
us. We nurture the loftiest sentiments and embalm them 
with our tears ; and this service of praise and of grateful 
remembrance, and the adornment of their graves tends 
to exalt the good and keep it fresh and green as amaranth 
in our memories, and their names, rescued from oblivion, 
inscribed on the imperishable tablets of our souls. 

It is an augury of the coming of " Peace on earth " 
that even in this time of unrest, of wars and international 
disturbances, of a carnival of crime without- parallel, that 
the principle of fraternity should be predominant, as it 
unquestionably is. Helpfulness is the keynote of the 
grand symphony of the future. In the early days man- 
kind were wont to gather in tribes or bands for protec- 
tion from their common enemies, and to this instinct 
may be traced the tribal conditions which have de- 
veloped into great nations. Those who have similar 
interests and pursuits become alike in personal character- 



28o THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

istics and even in physical appearance. And were the 
origin of the great nationalities of the earth to be sifted 
to the foundation there would undoubtedly be revealed a 
little group of human beings whom common interest, 
probably that of self-defense, had joined together. In 
America to-day the fraternal bond is not necessary to 
protect mankind from ferocious beasts or equally savage 
human marauders, but the greater needs of the human 
soul under modern conditions cry out for succor and help 
with more insistence than ever. Happiness cannot be 
attained by the normal individual, when he knows his 
human brothers to be in need, until he has done something 
for the alleviation of their woes. Few can do this as 
individuals, but fraternity furnishes both opportunity and 
means. And such fraternal orders as yours are a na- 
tional blessing. They promote thrift, economy, and 
sobriety, without freezing the soul into selfishness. They 
bring men into closer relations, make them thoughtful 
and helpful; expanding the sentiments of love, charity, 
benevolence, and good-will. 

To comfort those in sorrow, to assist the needy, attend 
the sick, and bury the dead. What more worthy purpose 
for organization can be found? And this is not all. If 
those ministrations are not needed, there is still the 
fervent hand-clasp, the ready sympathy, the kindly word 
of comfort, which all at some time need, and which all 
may speak, and which fall upon the stricken soul like a 
benediction, especially when coming from those to whom 
one is bound by the fraternal tie. The grandest objects 
of your Association — mutual assistance, helpfulness, 
cheer, protection among your living, and tender sympathy 
for the mourning ones, wins the benediction of a world, 
the admiration of angels, and the " well done " of God. 



ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 281 

You, brothers of the Foresters of America, will never 
finish the work so nobly begun. Your grand organiza- 
tion, with its pronounced doctrine of the " Faith that in- 
spires, and Revelation that assures," that " though the full- 
ness of time will bring the consummation, when the sword 
shall be turned into the pruning hook," you are advancing 
a step towards this great end. I can only say, God 
hasten the day — but which is sure to come — when all the 
instruments of war will be converted into the implements 
of husbandry — when the people of all nations and 
tongues shall stand together in the brotherhood and 
majesty of enlightened conscience, and when He who 
sits in His great supremacy upon the throne of the 
Universe shall be recognized as Sovereign of all. 

Peace also has its wounds to heal, its desolate homes to 
cheer, its broken hearts to give ministry unto. And peace 
is for all time. The hour is nearer than we sometimes 
think, when the olive branch shall flourish and like the 
snowy wings of a dove a spirit of brotherhood shall 
descend upon all the nations of the earth. Yet the time 
will never come when some human heart may not be 
made happier, some soul may not receive comfort from 
its fellows. It is significant of a condition of fine spirit- 
uality that you should not content yourself with 
administering to the brother in the flesh or to the loved 
ones left to your care, but that you should also render 
this beautiful tribute to those who have gone beyond the 
veil, whose voices speak not in the tones to which you 
have delighted to listen, and whose warm hand-clasp no 
longer meets your own. But your hearts go out to them 
on a day like this. You see them again all along the line 
of the passing years as they have dropped out on life's 
march, some with the dews of death not yet wiped away, 
and the flowers still freshly sprinkled with the tears of 



282 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

loved ones; and while your numbers may increase you 
miss their faces, their kind words, their salutations, and 
their familiar tread across your court rooms. But fond 
Memory waves her magic wand and gives them back to 
you at this time. Although unseen they come with noise- 
less footfalls to greet you once again, and they whisper 
of a fraternity which death does not sever, but forges link 
by link into a golden chain, each loop of which bears the 
sacred name of a brother. And so to you, absent yet ever 
present brothers, but to whom the " Great Hereafter " 
has become the " Glorious Here," we send our thoughts 
after you to-day with no misgiving. We are one with 
you ; living the same life, always in close touch with 
you. 

Ere long the gates will open and others of your great 
Association will pass through and over. Not into dark- 
ness, but into light. Not into tears, but into joy and in 
the presence of ever living loveliness. It is but a few 
steps beyond our vision. The frontier of mortality is 
but an imaginary line. They who have crossed the river 
now stand hand in hand, and heart and heart united are 
walking the grand, the endless, the beautiful avenues of 
the Eternal City. 

We call them dead ; but are they dead ? Let us rather 
say they have only begun to live. Nor is this a vagary 
woven in the loom of fancy; for we are guided by the 
truths of Revelation and the strongest analogies of our 
nature. The crowning glory of science and of our age 
is the disclosure that we are standing on the borders of 
an unseen universe, vast and illimitable. When we reach 
the upper of the Natural we have only touched the lower 
of the Spiritual. It does not yet appear what we shall 
be, but we concur in the almost universal idea that Love 
universally reigns, and for those who have been translated 



ANCIENT ORDER OF FORESTERS 283 

it means the fullness, the grand symphony of life — the 
eternal music of the soul. 

My Forester Brothers, if I may, for I have been one 
of you, your Association is a grand one and confers a 
glory upon humanity by reason of its sublime record, its 
power and influence exerted for good in our land. It 
merits the pride cherished of its work which has extended 
and broadened to immense proportions, until now there 
is in our country a total membership of 250,000 willing 
and apt workers, second to none in aims and influence. 
It will live and prosper to develop nobility above self and 
a never-ceasing safeguard against the turmoils of dem- 
agogues and the ragings of the debased. 

My friends, this memorial service is no idle ceremony, 
for most worthy of the living is worthy commemoration 
of the worthy dead. It is free from Pharisaic ostentation. 
They need no sympathy, but they need our remembrance. 
Tears keep alive memories of dear ones as dews of 
heaven freshen the flowers that bloom over their quiet 
rest, and the very music of this hallowed hour has wafted 
cooling draughts to fevered brains, a freshening breeze 
to languid souls, a joy and an inspiration to those so fond 
of cherishing remembrance of loved ones in eternal 
repose. 



REGAINING THE LOSS 

In every organization there is a measure of loss that is 
inevitable. The " wear and tear " of time is manifest 
everywhere; some of it is avoidable, much of it una- 
voidable. In any case, if prosperity is to be maintained 
and progress made, the loss must be regained and the 
injury repaired. This is vitally true of our Order, and 



284 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

all similar orders. " Eternal Vigilance " is the price that 
we must be ready to pay for stability and growth. Time 
is irresistibly bearing our membership on to " the country 
from whose bourne no traveler returns. " Every vacancy 
in our ranks is loss till it is filled up. It can be converted 
into a gain by placing in it a younger and more active 
brother than the one who occupied it. The rivers that 
empty into the sea would run dry in their course thither 
were they not fed by the rainfalls and the melting snows 
and glaciers in the mountains. The fruit tree yields up 
each season much of its life in broken twigs and torn 
branches, but every season it is repairing the loss by 
putting forth new shoots. Day by day the men who 
toil with brain and hand impair their vigor, but day and 
night they recreate the waste by food and rest. So the 
Fraternal Order suffers daily by time and the suspensions, 
sickness, disability, and death that time is ever bringing ; 
but the Fraternal Order can gain all that is lost, and 
more, from the young generation that time brings, and 
brings in ever-increasing numbers to replace the old. Let 
us bring in the new members as fast as we lose old ones, 
and the Order will be maintained as strong and as vigor- 
ous as it is now. Let us continue bringing in young men 
faster than old ones drop out, as we have been doing 
since the organization of the Order, and we will be con- 
stantly improving the condition of the Order. Meeting 
these possible conditions, the Order will continue pros- 
pering while humanity lasts. When humanity ceases its 
occupation will be gone, the need for it will be at end, 
and it can go out of the business. Meantime it is doing 
business at the old stand, and it means to do a growing 
and therefore profitable business. Ind. Forester. 



IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN 

Historical. — The Improved Order of Red Men is the present 
name of a society which claims to be the oldest charitable and 
benevolent secret society of American origin. In its present 
form it was organized at Baltimore, Md., in 1834; but this was, 
as the name indicates, a reorganization; and earlier societies 
known as Red Men seem to be traceable to the Sons of Liberty 
of the time of the War of Independence, and some account of 
them is proper in this place. 

The Sons of Liberty appeared in Maryland in 1764, as an 
organization of the popular opposition to taxation without repre- 
sentation. That name was applied in the British Parliament by 
Colonel Isaac Barre in 1765 to the parties in the American 
Colonies who opposed the " stamp act,'' and it is said that the 
societies immediately adopted the name which Barre had given 
them. In Maryland the Sons of Liberty claimed an Indian chief- 
tain as its tutelar saint and patron. Maryland loyalists organ- 
ized St. George's, St. Andrew's, and St. David's societies, and 
the Sons of Liberty took the name of an Indian chief of the 
Delawares, named Tamina, or Tamanend, and called them- 
selves Sons of St. Tamina, a St. Tamina Society being formed 
at Annapolis, Md., in 1771. The Indian disguises of the Sons of 
Liberty at the "Boston Tea Party" are well known; and after 
the Revolution the Sons of St. Tamina constituted the organized 
embodiment of popular patriotism and loyalty. 

The Tamina Society, or Columbian Order, was formed at New 
York in 1780, and is the well-known Tammany Society of to-day. 
In 1772 a society known as the American Sons of King Tam- 
many was formed in Philadelphia as a patriotic and afterwards 
political and benevolent society, and a like society in Baltimore 
in 1805. These Tamina or Tammany societies, and others in 
several cities, were at first political, but afterward became social 
and benevolent in their purposes, the Tammany Society in New 
York alone retaining its political character. As early as 1784 
some of these societies paid stipulated benefits to their sick and 
distressed members, though their principal object was the fos- 
tering of the spirit of freedom and intense opposition to any- 
thing like aristocracy. In this thought they objected to the 
Society of the Cincinnati, organized in 1783 among veteran offi- 
cers of the Revolutionary Army, and the Tammany or Colum- 
bian Order was in part a protest of this character and in favor 
of private soldiers. They gradually ceased to be active, except 
in New York, though there was some revival during the War 

«8s 



286 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

of 1812, a society in Philadelphia volunteering for garrison duty 
when it was thought, in 1813, that the British would attack that 
city. 

As the Tamina societies became less political, and more engaged 
in charity, many of them took the name of Red Men. A society 
of Red Men was organized in a military company at Fort Mif- 
flin, four miles below Philadelphia, on the Delaware River, in 
1812. There is mention of a Tribe of Red Men at Charleston, 
S. C, in 1818-21, and other Tribes appear in New Jersey, Mary- 
land, Pennsylvania, and New York, some of which maintained 
an independent existence as Red Men as late as 1854. The 
Tammany societies in Philadelphia were dissolved about 1822, 
and the Red Men seem to have practically taken their place as 
the patriotic American society. 

The prevalence of the cholera in 1833 emphasized the need of 
charitable and fraternal assistance, and in 1834 there was an 
effort to gather and reorganize the scattered and independent 
societies under the name of The Improved Order of Red Men. 

A preliminary meeting was held in Baltimore in December, 
1833, and a permanent organization was made early in 1834. 
Some of the societies then existing had the name of too great 
social conviviality, and the Improved Order protested against 
these, and declared itself an association " for mutual fraternity 
and benevolence," adopting the motto : " Freedom, Friendship, 
and Charity." The first society of the reorganized Order was 
Logan Tribe, No. 1, of which George A. Peter was the first 
Sachem, and he is regarded as the founder of the " Improved 
Order of Red Men." Its first act was to prohibit meetings in 
buildings where liquor was sold, and its course was so well 
approved that a second Tribe was instituted in Baltimore before 
the year was out, and in 1835 these established a Grand Council 
of Maryland, electing William T. Jones as Grand Sachem. 

The Order grew in Baltimore and extended to Washington, 
where a second Grand Council was organized, and in 1847 a 
Great Council of the United States was formed. The Order 
extended into Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, 
and New York. 

In 1847 higher degrees, entitled Beneficial Degree Councils 
and a Chieftain's League, were formed; and there was a revision 
of the ritual and adoption of a uniform regalia. 

The Order of Red Men takes its nomenclature and legends 
from the history, customs, and virtues of the aboriginal American 
Indians. Local organizations are called Tribes ; these are subor- 
dinate to Grand (State) Councils, and the latter to the Great 
Council of the United States, the supreme body. The ritual of 
the Tribes provides for the four degrees of Adoption, Hunter, 
Warrior, and Chief; while there are honorary degrees for those 
who have filled executive positions in Tribes in . Grand Coun- 
cils, and besides the Beneficiary Degree and the Chieftain's 
League (which is the Uniformed Rank of the Order). 



IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN 287 

The even growth of the Order was interrupted in 1850 by the 
schism of Metamora Tribe, of Baltimore, working in the German 
language. This Tribe disputed a benefit assessment, declared 
by the Grand Council of Maryland and the Great Council of the 
United States, and, therefore, surrendered its charter and formed 
an Independent Order of Red Men. A few German Tribes 
joined in this movement, but with only limited success. During 
the half century their maximum membership has been about 
12,000; and it is said that latterly there are many returns to the 
old affiliation. 

The Improved Order grew steadily and rapidly from its organ- 
ization till 1875, when it numbered about 40,000 members. It 
lost for a time, falling off to 27,214 in 1880, but later recovered, 
having about 140,000 members in 1895. 

Several efforts were made to establish a female branch, and 
this was accomplished in 1887, when the degree of Daughters of 
Pocahontas was opened, which has grown to a membership of 
26,000. 

The report of 1895 showed 32 Jurisdictions, 1678 Tribes, 133,485 
members, $319,252 paid for relief of brethren, $8,892 paid for 
relief of widows and orphans, $80,163 paid for education of 
orphans, and total amount of receipts, $1,087,787. 



PATRIOTISM OF THE ORDER 

The " Long Talk "* 

by great incohonee george e. green, of new york. 

The Improved Order of Red Men as a Fraternity and 
in its relation to the Government is a sentiment worthy of 
our serious consideration, and a theme for almost endless 
research, abounding in illimitable discoveries of acts — 
not meaningless words — calculated to command our 
highest admiration, excite our loftiest ambition, and in- 
spire our most practical resolutions in the emulation of 
deeds well done. 

* At Washington, D. C. 



288 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

It is not my purpose to attempt the role of a historian, 
since there is an official history of the Order, with which 
all, especially fraters, should be familiar. Suffice it to 
say that no more ancient, no more honorable, lineage is 
claimed or sought by the Improved Order of Red Men 
than is permissible by a Fraternity having its birth, 
growth, and history contemporaneously with that of the 
American colonies and the United States of America. 

Inscribed upon its banner, in imperishable letters of 
gold, may be read the revered and sacred motto : " Free- 
dom, Friendship, and Charity." Can finite mind create 
or human heart desire emblematic words more lustrous, 
grander, or of wider significance? The preacher with 
this motto as a text must teach the sublime truths of the 
Sermon on the Mount, combined with the Golden Rule 
as an earthly measure ; and a full application of the text 
would lose the finite in infinity, and cause the rainbow of 
promise to fade at the touch of Heaven's brightness and 
a millennium realized. 

" Freedom, Friendship, and Charity ! " Ah, what a 
trinity of words, and, when garlanded into deeds, how 
sweet the fragrance of the blossoms which strew our 
pathway from earth to Heaven ; not " flowers that 
wither at the North wind's breath," but of the variety 
that perennially bloom, and never, never die! 

" Freedom, Friendship, and Charity ! " It may be 
reverently quoted : " But the greatest of these is char- 
ity." For an illustration of the practical exemplification 
of the motto, on the part of this Fraternity, I commend a 
careful perusal of the Report of the Great Chief of Rec- 
ords. Here is just a hint of a small portion of duly 
recorded and reported accomplishments by the Im- 
proved Order of Red Men during the past great sun, 
or year: 



IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN 289 

Tribal receipts $1,427,405.91 

Paid for the relief of members . 443,495.19 

Paid widows and orphans 10,506.21 

Paid for burial of the dead 104,604.55 

" He that hath no charity deserves no mercy." —-- 

" In faith and hope the world will disagree, 
But all mankind's concern is charity." 

My illustrious predecessor, Judge Robert T. Daniel, of 
Georgia, at the very incipiency of the war with Spain, 
issued the following proclamation : 

" To the Tribes and Members of the Improved Order 
of Red Men — Greeting : Whereas, our Order was born 
and nurtured in the same cradle of Liberty as our coun- 
try, and once more the flag of our nation has been un- 
furled, and its graceful folds float to the breeze ; and 
whereas, the President of the United States has issued a 
call for 125,000 volunteers to defend that flag we all love 
and reverence, which is the common heritage of us all; 
and in remembrance of the fact that in 1774 the Sons of 
Liberty helped to raise the American flag; in 1812 the 
Society of Red Men defended it ; now it behooves us, the 
Improved Order of Red Men, the lineal descendants of 
the Sons of Liberty, through the Society of Red Men, to 
rally around our country's flag, and to defend it as de- 
votedly and patriotically as did the founders of our Order ; 
now, therefore, by the authority vested in me as Great 
Incohonee of the Improved Order of Red Men, I do 
issue this proclamation to all the Tribes of the Order, 
and do recommend : 

" That each Tribe take suitable action to meet the 
present crisis in our country's affairs ; and I further rec- 
ommend that each Tribe take such action as will relieve 



290 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

the brothers who may enlist in the service of our country 
from payment of clues during the time of their service. 

" And now, in behalf of 200,000 loyal, patriot freemen 
throughout the North, East, the South, and the West, 
who are members of our Order, we tender to William 
McKinley, the President of the United States, our faith- 
ful fealty to our flag and our country's cause ; and, in his 
efforts to uphold nd maintain the honor and dignity of 
our country, he will have our sympathy, our prayers, and 
our ARMS. 

" And may the Great Spirit send through the clouds of 
war a beacon light to guide and direct him in these mo- 
mentous hours, and may the God of Battle give a speedy 
victory to our righteous cause ! " 

Such sentiments, such actions, by a Great Chief, the 
highest in this Order, and by one who, as a citizen, held 
opposite political views to the President and Federal 
Administration, were timely and consistent with the tra- 
ditions, history, and principles of a Fraternity of purely 
American origin, having been conceived in patriotism and 
born of the love of American freedom and righteous 
liberty of thought and action. A Fraternity nurtured 
and strengthened by an undying devotion and loyalty to 
our one common country — " undivided and indivisible " ; 
a Fraternity throughout all its splendid existence teach- 
ing respect for and obedience to duly constituted 
authority, and intelligently realizing the appropriateness 
of, and inspiration in, our National Anthem — " America," 
coupled with the " Star Spangled Banner/' 

The proclamation of the Great Incohonee found a 
hearty response throughout the Fraternity, and was com- 
mended, as it deserved, from press and pulpit. Thou- 
sands of loyal Red Men and patriots, needing no urging, 
sadly bade home and friends good-bye, and cheerfully 



IMPROVED ORDER OP RED MEN 291 

took up arms, not in the defense of our country, but for 
the honor of our flag and the blotting out of cruel slavery, 
tyranny, and persecution under Spanish rule, which had 
resulted in the establishment of a rendezvous for starva- 
tion and butchery at our very door. Doubtless the clan- 
destine and diabolical plot resulting in the blowing up of 
the Maine hastened the war, and a more righteous war, 
productive of more glorious results, has never befallen 
the lot of any nation. 

The Great Incohonee, in his Long Talk at Indianap- 
olis, at the last Great Sun session, voiced this sentiment 
of thanks to the Creator, accompanied by a prophecy of 
richest blessings and an admonition to the membership 
to be active and ready for the harvest : 

" We thank the Great Spirit that the sweet harbinger 
of Peace has unfurled its wings and rests once more over 
our land. Through the rift in the clouds we can see the 
golden sunlight of a brighter day. Prosperity and hap- 
piness on the wings of the morning will once more bless 
our common country. Let us hail it with gladness. Let 
us be active, and ready to reap the blessings that will 
come to our country, our Order, and ourselves." It is 
safe to say that the Fraternity, with one accord, breathed 
a responsive and earnest " Amen." But this was not to 
be, and soon was disclosed the truth of the sacred prov- 
erb: " Man proposes, but God disposes." 

This country, in reluctantly inaugurating war with 
Spain, entered willingly, even cheerfully, into the contest 
against " oppression, wrong, and suffering," issuing the 
noblest declaration a nation ever offered in giving battle, 
and from which it has never receded one iota on its ex- 
pansive march from the Occident to the Orient. 

The map of the world was, however, unexpectedly 
changed when the God-fearing, man-daring, heroic 



292 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

bravery, and well-directed warfare of Admiral Dewey 
and his men, of equal courage, converted into old junk 
the Spanish battleships in Manila Bay. This peace- 
loving Republic, with never a thought of conquest, was, 
not by accident, but, as I reverently believe, by the inten- 
tion and direction of God Almighty, swung out of its 
usual course, and burdened with new and difficult respon- 
sibilities of widest possible import to the quickened 
growth and stability of the highest order of good gov- 
ernment, Christian civilization, rugged intelligence, lib- 
erty, peace, and justice throughout the world. 

Shall this nation flinch and fail to proceed on its on- 
ward, broadened march? Will it shirk onerous duties 
because of fear of failure? Will it falter in persist- 
ently seeking the full consummation of the responsibili- 
ties, and fail to appreciate the opportunities which the 
Great Spirit, in such a mysterious, if not miraculous, 
manner has placed at its disposal? No. A thousand 
times, no ! 

" He has sounded forth the trumpet 
That shall never call retreat." 

He who ruleth nations and peoples has willed that per- 
fect peace should be temporarily delayed until American 
arms shall prevent the semi-civilized barbarity of the 
minority Filipinos from terrorizing and misgoverning the 
majority. 

The question at issue is not one of Filipino mis- 
government, but of good government, of civilization, 
of honesty, of Christianity. When the Filipinos demon- 
strate ability and capacity to rule rightly instead of mis- 
rule, to be tolerant, substituting liberty and justice for 
the worst forms of slavery and savagery, it is then time to 
permit a republican form of self-government, Until then, 



IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN 293 

the bounden duty of the United States of America, to 
itself and the whole civilized world, is to subdue rebellion 
by peaceful means if consistently possible, but by the ter- 
rible results of exterminating war, if need be, and sup- 
plant the disorder and chaos with good order and modern 
civilization. To do this will doubtless involve graver 
responsibilities, disappointments, dangers, and sacrifices, 
coupled with mortifying delays and disasters; but these 
shall quicken and inspire action, and not deter. Can 
anyone truthfully say that the end does not justify the 
means ? 

Again, why fear expansion? This Republic, under 
Divine guidance, has constantly expanded, its history 
clearly vindicating the views from Washington and Jef- 
ferson to Lincoln and Seward, who in their days were 
no less expansionists than President McKinley and his 
administration of to-day, the correctness of whose posi- 
tion is quite justified in the light of history, as well as by 
recent developments. 

Men possessing good business acumen, and who have 
long been students of affairs, judging coming events by 
the shadows of light they cast before, freely predict that 
the commerce of the Pacific Ocean in a few decades more 
of years will rival that of the Atlantic, and the industrial 
and commercial activities will be the largest and most 
remunerative in Eastern Asia. Shall the United States 
refuse to participate therein ? 

Without in the leastwise forsaking the earliest motives, 
which were loftier than trade or commerce, shall this 
nation, in view of subsequent circumstances over which 
it apparently had no preventing control, abandon its duty 
to civilization, to flag, and country, as well as to God 
above, by allowing armed and organized savagery to 
administer self -mis government, simply for fear of carp- 



294 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

ing critics at home or abroad, or lest jealous rivals should 
say that this nation had an " eye to business? " 

If in pursuance of right victory follows, and this nation 
reaps a golden harvest, not only because of the conscious- 
ness of right action, but by enlarged possessions, ex- 
panded developments, and increased resources, may we 
not justly accept these partially compensating material 
results as the reward of merit? Instead of lending fuel 
to the fire of Filipino barbarity, and inciting continued 
heathenish rebellion in possessions clearly by Spanish 
cession the property of the United States, it would better 
become the critical and fault-finding citizens to remem- 
ber and act upon the toast given in 1816 by Stephen Deca- 
tur : " Our Country ! In her intercourse with foreign 
nations may she always be in the right ; but Our Country, 
right or wrong/' 

The friends of Filipino rebellion, living so near Plym- 
outh Rock, which rock was referred to by Longfellow as 
" the corner-stone of a nation," itself standing as a monu- 
ment to expansion, should heed the admonition offered by 
Robert C. Winthrop, in the toast given at Faneuil Hall, 
July 4, 1845 : " Our Country, whether bounded by the 
St. Johns or the Sabine, or however otherwise bounded 
or described, and be the measurements more or less — -still 
Our Country, to be cherished in all our hearts; to be 
defended by all our hands." 

The evening twilight of the nineteenth century will not 
vanish into darkness until the United States of America 
stands pre-eminently at the head of all the nations of the 
earth in the long list of grand accomplishments and 
civilizing victories of war, climaxing with a triumphal 
march against wrong, which, providentially, placed the 
United States as one of the greatest controlling nations 
of the world, almost magically and in so brief a period of 



IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN 295 

years evolving from a colony or scattered colonies to 
free and independent states; and then, near the close of 
the nineteenth century, in a day, the transition so unex- 
pectedly came, necessarily making our country a coloniz- 
ing power, with sovereignty extending over new seas 
and strange lands. 

Beginning before the brilliant daw T n of the twentieth 
century morning breaks upon the. world, as citizens of 
the United States we undertake with willing hands and 
faithful hearts the sacred and responsible broadening 
mission entrusted to our keeping, promising the world 
and the Ruler of Nations that we will govern with toler- 
ance, moderation, equity, and equal justice to all. What 
we may fail in accomplishing in our day we will pass 
down from clean hands and with hearts pure in their mo- 
tives to the equally clean hands and hearts of our 
posterity. 

The rich inheritance from our fathers of a good name, 
of liberty, patriotism, courage, of love for and loyalty to 
flag and country and American institutions will be for- 
ever treasured by the citizens of the United States and 
its possessions, and will be transmitted as an imperish- 
able ancestral heritage to their children and their chil- 
dren's children until time shall be no more. 

Possibly this Long Talk, in its extended reference to 
matters of state, may be misinterpreted by some portion 
of the " pale- face world " to indicate that the Improved 
Order of Red Men is a political institution. Such is not 
the case. 

" Red Men administer no oaths binding you to any 
political or religious creed ; as you enter this wigwam, so 
you depart, a free man." 

Confident, however, in the belief that the Fraternity 
and those acquainted with its purposes will not misinter- 



296 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

pret my motives, I desire to emphasize the fact that this 
American Fraternity stands conspicuously loyal to coun- 
try, and unqualifiedly for patriotism of the intense char- 
acter, even subscribing to the historical sentiment pro- 
posed by Rufus Choate : " We join ourselves to no party 
that does not carry the flag and keep step to the music of 
the Union." 

The President of the United States, in a recent speech 
teeming with sympathy, patriotism, and eloquence, in 
welcoming home the remaining members of the gallant 
Tenth Pennsylvania Regiment, made use of the following 
language : 

" Every one of the noble men of the regulars or volun- 
teers, soldiers or seamen, who thus signally served the 
country in its extremity, deserves the special recognition 
of Congress, and it will be to me an unfeigned pleasure 
to recommend for each of them a special medal of honor. 

" While we give you hail and greeting from overflow T - 
ing hearts, we do not forget the brave men who remained, 
and those who have gone forward to take your places, and 
those other brave men who have so promptly volunteered, 
crowding each other to go to the front, to carry forward 
to successful completion the work you so nobly began. 
Our prayers go with them, and more men and munitions, 
if required for the speedy suppression of the rebellion, 
the establishment of peace and tranquillity, and a gov- 
ernment under the unquestioned sovereignty of the United 
States — a government which will do justice to all, and at 
once encourage the best efforts and aspirations of this 
distant people, and the highest development of their rich 
and fertile lands/' 

To these sentiments, and to the policy announced, I am 
sure nearly or quite all the members of our Order stand 
'securely committed, regardless of political or religious 



IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN 297 

beliefs. It is claimed that twenty thousand members of 
the Improved Order of Red Men voluntarily assumed a 
higher degree in this Order by joining the ranks of the 
United States army and helping to preserve unsullied 
the honor of the nation and the glory of its flag ; and it is 
my belief, should necessity arise, that a call to arms would 
secure the response, perhaps not in words, but deeds: 
" We are coming, Mr. President, two hundred thousand 
strong/' limited in numbers only corresponding to the 
disabled members of the Order. 

Can less be expected of an organization the very fiber 
of whose history is interwoven with the warp and woof 
of the United States Government — good government? 
The " Sons of Liberty," the parent seed from which has 
grown the splendid fruitage of fraternal societies now 
under the jurisdiction of the Improved Order of Red 
Men, was organized for the express purpose of founding 
a new and good government. 

The " Society of Red Men " in 1813 was imbued with 
a similar spirit, and carried forward inspiration^ in the 
work undertaken of strengthening the government in its 
second heroic struggle with Great Britain. It is pecu- 
liarly appropriate, then, for the Improved Order of Red 
Men to prove itself true to the brilliant legacy of patri- 
otism and loyalty inherited from such worthy sires, who 
participated in founding and preserving the nation, by 
ever showing an intelligent and active interest, patriotic 
and non-partisan, in all things that tend to the upbuilding, 
glorious achievement, and perpetuity of the high pur- 
poses and magnificent destiny of the Fraternity and the 
land of its birth. 



29S THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

WASHINGTON 

An Address* 
by representative frederick h. rice, of new york. 

There are two widely dissimilar views of Washington 
that have been held of recent years in this country. One 
represents him as a rather commonplace man made prom- 
inent by force of circumstances ; the other ranks him 
among the few supremely great characters of the world's 
history. It is safe to say that the latter view is the one 
held by the majority of the serious students of his career; 
but it is equally safe to affirm that the view which de- 
grades him from his high and lofty eminence is shared by 
a large number of persons of average culture and intelli- 
gence. To the generality of people and to the scholar 
Washington is still our greatest hero ; but to the large 
class lying between these two extremes his fame is, un- 
fortunately, too often matter either of conventional acqui- 
escence or of ungenerous cavil. If this latter proposi- 
tion were not true, the mention of his name would elicit 
greater enthusiasm . and fewer sneers or silly jokes. But 
Frenchmen do not sneer at Napoleon, and Italians do not 
joke about Garibaldi. How is it, then, that Americans 
fail to revere their own national hero, who in the eyes of 
competent judges is inferior to no character in the range 
of history ? There are, probably, two causes for this 
strange phenomenon. Many of us do not understand how 
truly great Washington is, because silly biographies like 
that of Weems and pompous eulogies have obscured the 

* In the special memorial services at the tomb of Washington, 
on the hundredth anniversary of the death of George Wash- 
ington. 



IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN ^99 

actual man from our view and led to a natural reaction 
against him. Again, our Anglo-Saxon propensity to drag 
illustrious men down to the level of mediocrity and to 
worship the average has caused many of us uncon- 
sciously to derogate from Washington's richly-earned 
fame, and to seek to class him with the other public men 
of more or less ability whom we have produced in great 
numbers. But that we may judge more clearly in this 
important matter, let us briefly review the story of his 
life — a story which has been told and re-told for a cen- 
tury, but which will nevertheless be told and told again as 
long as the world endures. 

George Washington was born of good English stock 
in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Feb. 22, 1732. His 
father died early, but his mother, Mary Ball, gave him an 
admirable training, which was conducted later on by his 
elder half-brother, Augustine. Of actual schooling he 
got little, save such as sufficed to make him a practical 
surveyor. He spelt badly, but did accounts well ; he wrote 
poor verses, but was careful to copy out fifty-odd " rules 
of behavior." He had as little of the true literary afflatus 
as any youth of genius could well have, but he tamed the 
wildest horses and dominated the. most unruly of his 
schoolmates. 

It seems to me that Washington was destined to be the 
Father of his Country. From his seat here at Mount 
Vernon he watched the clouds gathering in the political 
heavens, and he displayed a statesmanly prescience in 
being almost the first American to perceive that a com- 
plete break with England was necessary to the peace and 
prosperity of the Colonies. He was no revolutionist, but 
neither was he afraid to trust the conclusions of his own 
mind; and if he was no orator, he certainly was not a 
man to mince his words. Caesar himself did not more 



3oo THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

thoroughly see the necessity for one-man rule at Rome 
than Washington saw the necessity for public independ- 
ence in America. He declared at Williamsburg, in 1774, 
that he was ready to raise a thousand men, support them 
at his own expense, and march them to the relief of Bos- 
ton. A few weeks later he rode on horseback with Pat- 
rick Henry and Edmund Pendleton to the Continental 
Congress at Philadelphia. He was, by the confession of 
Henry himself, easily the greatest man among the dele- 
gates. The Second Congress saw him again in attend- 
ance, and ready to lay down his life for his country ; but, 
although he could brave death, he could not face praise, 
and he left the chamber when John Adams nominated 
him to be commander-in-chief of the Continental forces. 
The next day he accepted the position, while protesting 
his unworthiness and refusing to accept any pay beyond 
the reimbursement of his expenses. No Roman of old 
ever came forward to save the state with purer intentions 
and under more favorable auguries of success. Although 
to weaker spirits the prospect was appalling, strong men 
drew happy omens, not from the flight of birds and the 
entrails of victims, but from the justice of the common 
cause and from the character of Washington. Nor did 
they mistake, nor do we mistake, when we assign to him 
the success of the Revolution. 

As we retrace the weary years that elapsed between 
Washington's taking command, July 3, 1775, and his 
laying down his office, Dec. 23, 1783, we perceive clearly 
that, under Providence, the issue of the mighty struggle 
depended on him. Had he lost heart at the supineness 
and bickerings of the people at large; had he grown 
weary of correcting the blunders of incapable subordi- 
nates ; had he disdained to control a fatuous Congress, or 
put down a wretched cabal among his own officers ; had 



IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN 3 QI 

his nerves given way at the sight of the suffering at Val- 
ley Forge ; had his spirit wavered at frequent defeat ; in 
short, had he been anything but the noble patriot and the 
great commander that he was, the course of history might 
have been changed, and the United States might have 
died in their birth forever, or come into existence again 
years later, and under far different auspices. 

But he was Washington — the noblest figure that any 
people has ever set in the forefront of its life and history. 
While he lived and fought on with his ragged troops, the 
Union was maintained in spite of all state squabbles ; 
while he was in command, any alliance made with France 
must be one which America could accept with dignity; 
while his brave heart beat, repulse meant only fresh 
resolve, and hardship and suffering only more splendid 
rewards of triumph. 

It is idle to deny that he was the soul of the Revolution, 
and it is equally idle to ask whether or not he was a great 
general. Whether he was, technically speaking, a master 
of the art of war, students of that art may decide ; though 
it is as well to remind them that Frederick the Great 
praised his Trenton campaign as a masterpiece of strat- 
egy. But that he is worthy to rank with the supreme 
commanders of history, no man of sound judgment or 
capable imagination will deny; not that he always won 
his battles, or won them in the most approved way ; not 
that he planned like a comet in the heavens threatening 
desolation to the nations ; not that he moved across the 
world's stage like a Karl or a Timour. His career does 
not enthrall us as does that of Alexander ; it does not 
leave us breathless with admiration as does that of Caesar ; 
it does not exalt us and horrify us as does that of Napo- 
leon. But it does give us that supreme sense of satisfac- 
tion which flows . from the perception of harmony, dig- 



302 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

nity, steadfastness, uprightness, serenity, wisdom. These 
are the characteristics of Washington's statesmanship, 
whether we regard his firm policy of resistance to the 
insolence of revolutionary France, or his refusal to plunge 
his country into a second war with England, or his cor- 
dial acceptance of the financial measures of Hamilton, or 
his steady accentuation to the national principle, or his 
firm but humane policy toward the Indians, or his prompt 
crushing of the whisky rebellion ; or, finally, his pro- 
gressive views on the subjects of slavery and national 
education, and his prophetic comprehension of the impor- 
tance of the West. What shall be said of such a man, 
save that he was as great in peace as he was in war, and 
veritably the Father of his Country ? 



THE EXAMPLE OF WASHINGTON 

An Address* 
by hon. chauncey m. depew, senator from new york. 

Indiscriminate eulogy has obscured the lesson of his 
career. He w r as neither a prodigy nor an accident. Rare 
gifts of mind and body were supplemented by a genius of 
common sense. He utilized with indomitable industry 
every opportunity to master the art of war and under- 
stand the science of government. He was also the most 
methodical and far-sighted business man of his time. He 
loved the hunting field, and was foremost in every athletic 
sport. Jefferson says that Washington was the best 
horseman he ever saw, and his fondness for fine horses 

* On the centennial of the death of Washington, delivered be- 
fore the Order of Red Men, at Washington, D. C. 



IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN 303 

drew him from Mount Vernon to Philadelphia to witness 
a famous race. The only officer who came from the 
bloody field of the Braddock massacre with honor and 
glory w T as Colonel Washington. At the age of twenty- 
six he had been for five years in continuous active mili- 
tary service under able generals of the British army and 
in independent commands. In his campaigns he had 
become personally familiar with the country from Boston 
on the east to the extreme boundaries of the western 
wilds. He was a trained soldier of brilliant reputation 
when he assumed command of the Continental Army at 
Cambridge twenty years afterward. For two decades, as 
a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and of 
Continental conventions and conferences, he had mas- 
tered the controversies with Great Britain and become a 
constructive statesman of the first rank. 

It has been given to no other man in the story of nations 
to be the repository of the destinies of his country in so 
many and such varied crises in its history. Washington's 
career demonstrates the value of character. In genius 
and acquirement in several lines Hamilton, Jefferson, 
and Adams were his superiors. Each of them had a 
large following, but the following formed a faction. All 
parties reposed unquestioning confidence in the upright- 
ness and unselfish patriotism of Washington. " There is 
but one character which keeps them in awe," said Ed- 
mund Randolph. A favorite fad of the leveling up by 
universal education in our day is the one that no man is 
indispensable to the people, the Army, the Government, a 
cause, or an industry. But in the clearer view of a cen- 
tury's retrospect we now see that the death of Washing- 
ton at any time between 1776 and 1797 would have 
changed the destiny and delayed, if not destroyed, the 
development cf this nation, 



304 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

When peace and independence were assured the victo- 
rious army encamped at Newburg in sullen discontent. 
It was ragged, hungry, and suffering from long arrears 
of pay. It had little respect for the Congress which was 
so indifferent to its services and its wants. Under the 
leadership of a popular soldier, who became in after years 
Secretary of War, it placed the dictatorship before Wash- 
ington. There were in the past an unbroken line of great 
captains, who in the hour of such temptation had surren- 
dered patriotism to ambition. A general less loved would 
have been set aside on refusal and another chosen. Wash- 
ington, by speech and example, lifted his comrades above 
their sufferings and anger to loyal devotion for the Re- 
public which had been won by their valor, and established 
for all time the only principle on which a free government 
can exist, the subordination of the military to civil 
authority. 

No patriot ever accepted a great office so reluctantly. 
His regrets and misgivings he thus entered in his diary 
when he left his home to assume the Presidency : " About 
10 o'clock I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, 
and to domestic felicity, and, with a mind oppressed with 
more anxious and painful sensations than I have words 
to express, set out for New York with the best disposi- 
tion to render service to my country in obedience to its 
call, but with less hope of answering its expectations." 
Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Lamb, the leader of 
the Sons of Liberty, and multitudes of the best people of 
the country doubted the new scheme of government. A 
large majority of the public men of the nation believed in 
the right of the States to nullify the acts of the Federal 
Government, and that it possessed no power to enforce 
its decrees. It had neither navy nor merchant marine. 
Its unpaid army was disbanded. There were no manu- 



IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN 3°5 

factures, no credit, and there was a discredited currency. 
Our bills for only $600,000 had been protested in Europe, 
and by protest and insurrection the people declared their 
inability to pay $4,000,000 a year in taxes. The govern- 
ments of Europe received our representatives with scant 
courtesy or contempt. The only bond of union and the 
only basis for confidence were the idolatrous devotion of 
the people to their President. Upon him rested the 
gravest responsibility ever imposed on a ruler. 

Eight years after the foreboding entry in his diary on 
accepting the Presidency he returned to Mount Vernon. 
His work was completed. He had given national life to 
the stately sentences on the parchment containing the 
Constitution. Elastic and indestructible institutions, prin- 
ciples, and policies were working harmoniously and 
smoothly for liberty and union, and national growth and 
grandeur. The pace had been so set for the perpetuity 
of the American Republic that neither party passions nor 
sectional discord nor civil war could destroy it or impair 
its glorious opportunities for its citizens and its inspiring 
example for peoples of other lands struggling for their 
rights. 

One hundred years ago to-day his spirit ascended to 
heaven, leaving his people in tears and his country 
draped in mourning. Europe joined in the universal sor- 
row. The British channel fleet lowered their flags at half 
mast. Napoleon Bonaparte ordered that black crape 
should be suspended from all standards and flags for ten 
days, and arranged an imposing funeral ceremonial and 
testimonial oration. Lord Brougham, with characteristic 
clearness and eloquence, condensed the judgment of man- 
kind. He said : " It will be the duty of the historian and 
the sage of all nations to let no occasion pass of commem- 
orating this illustrious man, and until time shall be no 



306 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

more will a test of the progress which our race has made 
in wisdom and virtue be derived from the veneration paid 
to the immortal name of Washington." 



TAMINA'S DAY 

An Address* 
by andrew h. paton, great incohonee. 

The pleasant and profitable manner in which the Order 
celebrated Tamina's Day of last great sun constrains me 
to advise that we again fittingly observe this day, historic 
in the annals of our country and of our Order. It is well 
for our own instruction and pleasure, and because of the 
impress for good it will be upon the pale-face world, that 
we shall meet in our council chambers on the 12th sun 
of Flower moon, or as near thereto as we conveniently 
can, to recall the virtues of Tamina and his people, of the 
patriotic organizations of America which used his and 
their names and observances for the public good, and to 
show our lineal right and our pride to stand before the 
American people as the patriotic and fraternal exemplars 
of their virtues. These gatherings need not be costly, 
but should be public as much as we can make them. They 
should be arranged to be of the most dignified character, 
in order that the noble purposes of our Order may be 
brought in the most favorable light before all the people. 

Last great sun many calls were made upon the chiefs 
of this Great Council, and others, for information upon 
which could be based appropriate programs and long 

* Presented to the Great Council, at Minneapolis, Minn, 



IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN 307 

talks for the occasion. The literature of the land, as 
well as of the Order, gives little of information on this 
subject, except by the most laborious research. There 
is not room in a document of this character to give de- 
tailed information of this kind, but a few quotations and 
extracts are annexed hereto, in the hope that they may 
be of value in the preparation of those making arrange- 
ments for a Tamina's Day program. In addition to 
these quotations, etc., our members will find much good 
material in the History of the Order, published at 36 
Bromfield Street, Boston. 

Tamina was famed for his exploits as a hunter and 
warrior, and, from the waters of the rising sun, and 
from the Father of Waters to the Great Salt Lake in the 
land of the setting sun, his deeds were recounted at every 
council fire. 

He waged, for many years, a war with his mortal 
enemy, the Evil Spirit, and during this time his prowess 
and courage exceeded, if possible, all that is related in 
song and story of the Grecian Hercules. 

The Evil Spirit filled the land with poison sumach and 
stinging nettles, which diffused virulent exhalations 
through the air, poisoning Tamina's people and punctur- 
ing them when they went to hunt. 

Tamina took advantage of a heavy drought and set fire 
to the prairies, thus consuming the venomous plants, and 
even singeing the Evil Spirit himself, who was skulking 
about. 

The Evil Spirit then sent fearful beasts, large, swift, 
and ferocious mammoths, and other monsters, in im- 
mense numbers, whose hides were so tough that no arrow 
could pierce them, and they caused great devastation; 
but Tamina caused salt to be sprinkled at various places 
throughout his dominions ; and in the paths of these ani- 



308 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

mals, as they went to these " licks/' he caused large pits 
to be dug and concealed by trees and leaves. Into these 
the beasts fell and were killed, being impaled on the points 
of sharpened sticks, and their bones are yet found there 
to prove the truth of the story. 

The Evil Spirit then tried to deluge Tamina's country 
by raising dams across the Great Lake, near where De- 
troit now stands, so as to cause a great rising of Lakes 
Huron and Michigan, and another dam at Niagara to 
raise the level of Lake Erie. But Tamina cut open the 
drains where the waters of the Miami, the Wabash, and 
the Allegheny now run, and by cutting a ditch which at 
present forms the channel of the Ohio. 

For this his adoring people called him the " Saviour of 
his Country. " The lakes gradually subsided, but the 
Rapids of Detroit and the Falls of Niagara still remain 
as monuments of the astonishing event. 

The Evil Spirit then stirred up the Red Men of the 
East and North against Tamina, and a long and bloody 
war ensued, but they were at length defeated and a great 
number taken prisoners. 

They expected to be put to the most horrible tortures, 
but they were astonished when Tamina spared their 
lives. 

He had them taken before him, and he delivered to 
them a discourse so full of good reason and sound sense 
that they were ashamed of their villainy. 

The Evil Spirit was determined not to give up, and so 
laid in ambush to attack Tamina himself; but Tamina, 
who was ever watchful and alert, knew by the moving of 
the bushes where the Evil Spirit had secreted himself, 
and pretending not to notice the discovery, advanced and 
dealt such a terrific blow with a stout hickory staff on the 
Evil Spirit that he bellowed with pain. 



IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN 3°9 

They clinched and had a terrific fight, which lasted 
fifty days, and not since the giant piled mountain upon 
mountain has it been equaled; not a tree was left stand- 
ing for miles around. Tamina finally conquered, but 
his fingers and wrists had been so weakened and strained 
by the contest that he was unable to hold the Evil Spirit ; 
but as he slipped through the fingers of Tamina he was 
ordered to remove himself to the cold and remote regions 
of Labrador, and never to return under pain of death. 

Tamina, thenceforward, devoted himself to the arts of 
peace. His government was patriarchal, mild, but firm. 
His people looked up to him as their father, and referred 
their disputes to him. His decisions were always law. 
Plenty pervaded his land, and his people were contented 
and happy. Their watchword was : " Tamina and 
Liberty." 

His fame spread abroad, and Manco Capac, the great 
Inca of Peru, sent for him to come to a point in Mexico, 
a point about equidistant from the dominions of each, to 
consult on a form of government which he was about to 
establish in Peru. 

Tamina, before departing, called together his tribes, 
which numbered thirteen, and delivered his precepts to 
them. 

The Eagle — The Eagle should be your model. He 
soars above the clouds. He takes a broad survey of the 
country round. Learn from him to direct your thoughts 
to elevating objects, and to rise superior to fogs of preju- 
dice and passion. Learn to behold, in the clear atmos- 
phere of reason, all things in their true light and posture. 

The Buffalo — Strong, but loves company; does not 
separate himself from his fellows. Imitate him. Operate 
in concert ; stand together ; support one another, and you 
will be a mountain that no one can move. Fritter away 



310 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

your strength in divisions; become the spirit of parties; 
let wigwam be divided against wigwam, and you will be 
an ant-hill which a baby can kick over. 

The Dog — Study in the virtues of the dog the sturdy 
warmth of his attachment; the disinterestedness of his 
friendship; the constancy of his fidelity. Mark him as 
the object of your kindness and imitation. Love with 
half the warmth, sincerity, and steadiness with which 
these, your constant companions, love you all, and happi- 
ness and comfort and joy will make your land their 
dwelling-place, and you shall experience all the pleasure 
which human nature can bear. 

The Beaver — The industry of the beaver merits your 
regard. Labor and perseverance overcome all things. 
For I have heard old people say that their ancestors made 
the sun by collecting into a heap all the fire-flies and 
glow-worms they could find, and the moon by gathering 
into a pile all the fox-fire or phosphoric rottenwood they 
could procure. 

The Squirrel — Mark well the foresight with which the 
squirrel collects his food and stores for the winter. So 
you should look forward to the winter of life, and have 
some provision necessary for yourselves at that needy 
time. 



IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN 311 

TAMINA TRADITIONS 
An" Address* 
by dr. samuel latham mitchell. 

Tradition records that long before the discoveries of 
Ferdinand De Soto or La Salle, or even before the fan- 
cied voyage of Boehm, Tamina and his people inhabited 
all the land west of the Allegheny Mountains and north- 
ward of the Ohio River, besides the land included by 
Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. 

Tamina died at .an unusual age, full of years and 
honors, and presumably between the years 1683 and 1685 ; 
for in the former year the first treaty for the purchase of 
lands by William Penn with the Red Men was concluded, 
and is dated April 23, 1683. 

In that treaty Tamina and Metamaquam relinquished 
their right to a tract of land lying between Pennypack 
and Meshaming creeks. 

In the treaty dated 30th day of May, 1685, the name 
Tamina does not appear. From this we infer that the 
Great Spirit called him home between these two events. 

Another account places the wigwam of Tamina where 
Princeton College now stands. 

" I have long looked with the eyes of a critic into the 
jovial faces of these sons of the forest, unfurrowed with 
cares, where the agonizing feeling of poverty had never 
stamped distress upon the brow. I have watched the 
bold, intrepid step, the proud, yet dignified deportment of 
nature's man in fearless freedom, with soul unalloyed by 
mercenary lusts ; too great to yield to* laws or power 

* Delivered before the Tammany Society of New York City. 



312 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

except from God. As these independent fellows are all 
joint tenants of the soil, they are all rich, and none of the 
steepings of comparative poverty can strangle their just 
claims to renown. Who, I would ask, can look without 
admiring into a society where peace and harmony pre- 
vail ; where virtue is cherished ; where rights are pro- 
tected and wrongs redressed, with no laws but the laws 
of honor, which are the supreme laws of their land? 
Trust the boasted virtues of civilized society for a while, 
with all its intellectual refinements, to such a tribunal, 
and then write down the degradation of the ' lawless 
savage ' and our transcendent virtues. . . I fear- 
lessly assert to the world (and I defy contradiction) that 
the North American Indian is everywhere, in his native 
state, a highly moral and religious being, endowed by 
his Maker with an intuitive knowledge of some great 
author of his being and the universe ; in dread of whose 
displeasure he constantly lives, with the apprehension 
before him of a future state where he expects to be 
rewarded or punished according to the merits he has 
gained or forfeited in this world. . . . Morality and 
virtue, I venture to say, the civilized world need not 
undertake to teach them. ... By nature they are 
decent and modest, unassuming and inoffensive, and all 
history (which I could quote to the end of a volume) 
proves them to have been found friendly and hospitable 
on the first approach of white people to their villages on 
all parts of the American continent, and, from what I 
have seen (which I offer as proof rather than what, I 
have read), I am willing and proud to add, for the ages 
who are only to read of these people, my testimony to 
that which was given by the immortal Columbus, who 
wrote back to his royal master and mistress from his 
first position on the new continent, ' I swear to your 



IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN 313 

Majesties that there is not a better people in the world 
than these ; more affectionate, affable, or mild. They love 
their neighbors as themselves, and they always speak 
smilingly/ ... I have had some unfriendly de- 
nunciations by the press, and by these critics I have been 
reproachfully designated ' the Indian-loving Catlin.' 
What of this? What have I to answer? Have I any 
apology to make for loving the Indians? The Indians 
have always loved me, and why should I not love the 
Indians ? 

" I love the people who have always made me welcome 
to the best they had. I love a people who are honest 
without laws ; who have no jails and no poor-houses. I 
love a people who keep the Commandments, without ever 
having read them, or heard them preached from the. 
pulpit. I love a people who never swear ; who never take 
the name of God in vain. I love a people who ' love their 
neighbor as they love themselves.' I love a people who 
worship God without a Bible, for I believe that God loves 
them also. I love these people w r hose religion is all the 
same, and who are free from religious animosities. 

" I love a people who have never raised a hand against 
me, or stolen my property, where there was no law to 
punish for either. I love the people who never have 
fought a battle with white men except on their own 
ground. I love and don't fear mankind where God has 
made and left them, for they are children. I love a 
people who live and keep what is their own without 
locks and keys. I love all people who do the best they 
can, and, oh ! how I love a people who don't live for the 
love of money." — Catlin. 

The Red Men who accompanied Catlin to Europe gave 
an example of the innate generosity of their character, 
from which our so-called civilization might learn a 



3 H THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

beautiful and valuable lesson. It was a mystery they 
could not expound for them to see women in rags with 
children, also in rags, in their arms, standing in European 
cities at the corners of stores filled to the door and 
window with all the comforts and luxuries which man 
might crave. Their money and wealth had to be with- 
held from them in order to prevent them pouring it into 
the hands of these poor people. It was a subject of con- 
stant consideration with them when they were alone to- 
gether, and they used to emphatically say that it made 
them " unhappy to see so many poor people. " They 
would say, "Talk about sending blackcoats (missionaries) 
among the Red Men. We have no such poor people 
among us, or people who abuse the Great Spirit; we 
dare not do so." On one of these occasions Little Wolf, 
having his dying child in his arms, put a shilling into its 
hands to drop into the beggar's lap, in order that it might 
die doing a good deed. 

The suggestion is respectfully presented that if Tribes 
cannot secure an orator who will specially prepare a long 
talk on the lines here given, they can present a program 
of feast or song, with a reading of the story of Tamina 
and the above quotations sandwiched in, to their members 
and families. Give the family this, and frequent, oppor- 
tunity to meet socially in our wigwam, and thus make 
them Red Men in heart, if we cannot make them so 
actually. If it is impossible to do either of the fore- 
going, then give the extracts in your local paper as the 
story of Tamina and the original Red Men, of which" we 
celebrate the day. 



IMPROVED ORDER OF RED MEN 3 J 5 



FUNERAL ODE 

BY REPRESENTATIVE COLE, OF MICHIGAN, PRESENTED TO THE GREAT 
COUNCIL, BINGHAMTON, N. Y. 

Tune: "PleyeYs Hymn!' 

Bending sadly o'er thy form, 
Late with health and vigor warm, 
Brother, in our night of grief 
What shall give our hearts relief? 

Shrined within this mortal clay 
Such a loving spirit lay, 
That we shrink with half distrust, 
Ere we give it back to dust. 

Freedom's never fading light, 
Friendship's luster, pure and bright, 
Charity's effulgence blest, 
Ever filled that faithful breast. 

Gracious manliness and grace 
Found a constant 'biding place 
In the form now closed and dark. 
Quenched its late illuming spark. 

Brother, from thy heavenly rest, 
From thy home among the blest, 
Come, in angel guise, to cheer 
Those who sorrow for thee here! 

From that radiant home on high 
Comes to us this glad reply: 
"Mourn not! For the path he's trod 
One degree is nearer God." 



ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN 

Historical. — This oldest of the great fraternal beneficiary 
Orders in the United States was founded at Meadville, Pa., 
October 2J, 1868, by John Jordan Upchurch. Upchurch was a 
mechanic, at that time in the employ of the Atlantic and Great 
Western Railroad. He was possessed of no marked literary 
attainments, but was a keen observer of men and events, of good 
reasoning powers, and of a philanthropic spirit. His object was 
at first to bring together the conflicting interests of capital and 
labor, and provide for the settling of disputes by some means of 
arbitration. Incidentally, he proposed to establish a system of life 
insurance, and this feature has taken the leading place, instead 
of that which was at first in Upchurch's mind. 

Like the other fraternal societies of insurance, this Order 
began with crude and un-business-like management, and showed 
little promise of growth, till the meeting of the Grand Lodge of 
Pennsylvania, at Meadville, in 1873, at which time the Order 
had only 800 members. But this was followed by the formation 
of a Supreme Lodge and a very rapid and prosperous growth. 

The first lodge was named Jefferson, No. 1, and provided that 
when the total membership should amount to one thousand an 
insurance office should be established and policies issued, securing 
at the death of a member not less than $500, to be paid to his 
heirs. 

A provincial Grand Lodge was formed in 1869, when the 
amount of insurance was placed at not less than $2000, and a 
uniform assessment established of one dollar. Five lodges 
were represented at the Provincial Grand Lodge in 1870. There 
were dissensions and two rival Grand Lodges for two years; 
but in 1872 union was recovered and the Order began its 
remarkable growth. In 1895 it had in the United States 6000 
lodges, with over 318,000 members, and in Canada about 32,000: 
and it had paid to widows and orphans between 1869 and 1895 
more than $70,000,000. 

Benefits are paid by Grand Lodges to beneficiaries under their 
jurisdiction, while the Supreme Lodge pays benefits to persons 
outside the jurisdiction of any Grand Lodge. 

It is a matter of wonder that this society has prospered so 
greatly while requiring so low a rate of assessment and making 
the rate the same for members of all ages. 

The death rate is sometimes excessive in some particular 
jurisdiction, and then the Supreme Lodge levies a special assess- 
ment upon the Order as a whole. Sick and funeral benefits are 

317 



3^ THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

not assumed by the Grand Lodges, but are left to the subordinate 
lodges to provide at their option; but it is said that compara- 
tively few do this. 

There is an auxiliary branch for women, called the Degree of 
Honor, which has a membership of about 40,000. 

What might be called a " side degree " is entitled the " Order 
of Mogullians," with which certain substantial benefits are con- 
ferred, as well as some amusement. 

This Order ranks in membership next to the Odd Fellows, 
Freemasons, and Knights of Pythias, and has thus far been won- 
derfully successful in maintaining its system of insurance. It is 
commonly believed, however, that this system must, sooner or 
later, be revised after the example of other assessment orders. 
The glory of the Order is in "being the first to show that life 
insurance can be secured at a lower rate by using the principal 
of fraternal assistance, and thereby not only securing the man- 
agement of its affairs and collection of its revenue, for the most 
part, without salaried agents, while at the same time cultivating 
fraternal kindliness and charity in a pleasant and helpful 
brotherhood. 



FRATERNAL GREETINGS 

An Address* 
by past grand master workman charles g. hinds. 

Supreme Master Workmen and Brethren: 

The progress of the West in material things during the 
past generation is strikingly typified by the progress of 
the great State within whose borders you are sojourners 
and upon behalf of whose nearly thirty thousand Work- 
men I am here to extend to you a brotherly welcome. 

Within the memory of those among you, where to-day 
stands the capitol building within whose walls you have 
met, the fierce Dakotah, one of the most warlike and 
populous of the tribes of red men, pitched his teepee, and 
along the river bank, from the roaming deer, bear, and 

* To the Supreme Lodge, A. O. U. W., St. Paul, Minn., June, 
1903. 



ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN 2> l 9 

buffalo, supplied his wants and rested himself for the 
ever-present conflict with his hereditary foe, the Chip- 
pewa. 
You are 

" In the land of the Dacotahs, 
Where the Falls of Minnehaha 
Flash and gleam among the oak leaves, 
Laugh and leap into the valley." 

Here dwelt the arrowmaker and 

" With him dwelt his dark-eyed daughter, 
Wayward was the Minnehaha, 
With her moods of shade and sunshine, 

Eyes that smiled and frowned alternate, 

Feet as rapid as the river, 

Tresses flowing like the water, 

And as musical as laughter; 
And he named her from the river, 
From the water-fall he named her, 

Minnehaha, Laughing Water." 

Yet the sons and daughters of those warriors, with the 
children of the first white settlers, attended district school 
and learned the arts, of peace, and the Indian has buried 
the hatchet forever. Where roamed the deer and the 
buffalo lie the greatest wheat fields in the world; where 
hibernated the bear is the greatest iron region in the 
world ; where plied their vocation the handful of trappers 
and traders of the past generation dwell nearly two 
millions of prosperous people, gathered from all parts of 
civilization, sending the product of the greatest food- 
producing area of the w r orld out to all parts of the 
world. 

The progress of the world in the higher missions of life 
— those that seek the " fatherhood of God and the brother- 
hood of man " — has kept pace with its material advance- 



320 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

ment. The great nations of the world no longer feel it 
beneath their dignity to adjust their differences in a court 
of peace. The echo of the cry of the starving in lands 
afar off is heard. Great conflicts between labor and 
capital are adjusted by arbitration. And for these 
triumphs fraternity is entitled to some credit. For it 
causes the high born and the lowly born, the employer 
and the employee, the ruler and the subject, to " meet 
upon the level and part upon the square " of the lodge 
room floor. Because it keeps want from the door of the 
widow when the natural provider has been taken away, 
and keeps the orphans off the street. Because it places 
school books in the hands of children. And because it 
visits the sick and buries the dead. 

And we are assembled here to-day in the name of 
fraternity to legislate for the good of fraternity. It is 
well for us to pause at the outset and contemplate this 
grand errand that brings us to the headwaters of the 
Mississippi and within the boundaries of the North Star 
state. 

How wonderful the progress of fraternity ! But thirty- 
five years ago that handful of thirteen men in a small 
Pennsylvania hamlet set a world force in motion that has 
grown to a fraternal beneficiary membership of five 
millions of brothers, paying annually sixty millions of 
money in extending protection to twenty millions of de- 
pendents. Realize, if you can, the dark shadows of want 
removed from humble homes, the possibilities of better 
citizenship held out to the orphaned child, the lifting from 
the grip of vice to the high plane of virtue of those to 
whom our society and those inspired by our organization 
have, in that short space of time, paid six hundred 
millions of dollars at the very time it was most needed. 
And when you legislate have in mind the preservation of 



ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN 321 

those to come after us, of the six billions now pledged by 
us and our sister organizations to our dependents. 

But the payment of money is not the only benefit con- 
ferred by fraternity upon mankind. To my mind, 
fraternity is one of the important factors of the age in 
developing the higher qualities in man. To-day are here 
gathered together as brothers men who proudly own 
allegiance to the crown " upon whose empire the sun 
never sets," and men whose immediate ancestors, because 
of the mistaken policy of a stubborn ministry in the time 
of an imbecile king, "met their forefathers upon the bloody 
field of battle. And we do well to meet together, for 
the same blood that was greedily drunk by the thirsty 
earth at Hastings w r as the blood of your forefathers and 
of our forefathers. Your ancestors, who wrung Magna 
Charta from King John, were our ancestors. The spirit 
that contended on the field of Naseby against the divine 
right of kings and wrote the Bill of Rights was the same 
spirit that fought at Lexington and wrote the Declaration 
of Independence ! And the descendants of those men, 
who guarded the charter in the cabin of the Mayflower 
and in this new land worshiped God in their own way 
and helped to rear a world-power, with the descendants 
of those men and the land they were forced to leave, 
climbed together the walls of the Forbidden City and 
bade the heathen Chinee keep his hands off of all Chris- 
tians, whomsoever they were ! So, long may the Union 
Jack and Old Glory float side by side upon the free 
breezes of heaven, their silken folds entwined and 
together upholding the eternal principles of right and 
justice to all mankind! 

And here in our own " land of the free and the home 
of the brave " how glad we are that the doubts of the 
past all lie buried in the past, Who knows the ways of 



322 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Providence? Nations and individuals alike are as 
nothing to the Almighty Power when a divine plan is to 
be accomplished. Some unknown force sank the 
Maine beneath the waves, and she carried down to 
death men of different nationalities, different religions, 
and different languages, men of the North and men of 
the South, and one who stood at the altar of our fraternity 
and pledged himself to our Order. But those martyrs 
of history sank beneath the waves of a hostile shore, 
covered, all of them, by the same shroud of the nation, 
the Stars and Stripes, and their souls ascended to one 
God ! And when from Dewey's flagship at Manila there 
flashed athwart the sky the nation's battle-cry, " Remem- 
ber the Maine!" the answering roar of our guns spoke 
both the vengeance and the union of our people forever- 
more ! 

The world grows better apace. This fraternity has its 
mission for the betterment of mankind. And when the 
Divine plan has been accomplished and the work that 
started with the dawn of creation has been fulfilled ; then, 
when the universe has been released from the restraining 
hand of the Creator and the worlds go crashing through 
space and are resolved into the elements from which they 
come — when chaos again rules and the book of life is 
closed and all is perfect peace — when God reigns supreme 
— may this great fraternity be recognized as one of the 
instruments of the Most High for the redemption of his 
erring children. And because of your mission of fra- 
ternity and of charity, which is love, you are welcome 
among us — aye, you are a thousand thousand times wel- 
come! 



ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN 323 



ADDRESS OF WELCOME 

BY HON. ROEERT A. SMITH, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF 
ST. PAUL. 

Brethren and Friends: 

I am proud, gentlemen, to meet the representatives of 
the noblest fraternal organization of this land. I am in- 
formed that almost every State of our glorious Union is 
represented here. This organization in its short life has 
expended millions of money, relieved the fatherless and 
the widowed, and attained a high standing socially. 

It affords me pleasure this morning, in behalf of the 
people, to extend to you a very cordial welcome and the 
freedom of the city. And I trust that your deliberations 
will be of such a character as will tend to promote the 
highest good for our Order and that those participating 
will reflect great honor upon themselves and the fra- 
ternity. I hope, gentlemen, in your short sojourn here, 
you will have pleasant social relations with the people, 
and, if I understand the character of our brother Work- 
men in this city, they will vie with each other in giving 
you a general good time. I thank you. 



ADDRESS OF WELCOME 

BY HONORABLE SAMUEL IVERSON, STATE AUDITOR OF 
MINNESOTA, 

Supreme Master Workman and Brothers of the Supreme 
Lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen: 
I greatly prize the honor I have this morning in ex- 
tending to, you gentlemen a greeting to the State of 
Minnesota. 



324 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

It is to be regretted that our Governor is not present at 
this time to perform this duty in a much more satisfactory 
manner. 

I prize the honor and extend to you the hearty greet- 
ings of the State of Minnesota and bid you welcome. 

Your great Order, great in its numbers throughout 
the Canadas and the United States, is one of the greatest 
within the borders of the State of Minnesota. I cannot 
speak from personal knowledge, but I judge from your 
works, gentlemen ; and by your works the public will 
judge you. 

Your Order in the State of Minnesota is great, because, 
first, of your great works ; second, because of your large 
numbers ; and, third, because of the strong and powerful 
men belonging to it within our State. 

Minnesota is a strong fraternal State. We believe in 
fraternalism here, and your society is safely imbedded in 
the hearts and minds of our people. 

As has been already stated, Minnesota is great in its 
resources. Our vast prairies contain boundless acres of 
the most fertile agricultural lands in this country; vast 
deposits of iron ore are found within a short distance of 
the city of St. Paul on the north shore of Lake Superior ; 
and our forests of pine and hardwood are known 
and famous throughout the length and breadth of the 
land. 

We hope, gentlemen, before you return that you will 
be able to witness the grandeur of our State. 

And now to our friends from the eastern line ot 
Canada to the western line of Canada and British Colum- 
bia, we bid you a hearty greeting to St. Paul. And to 
the members of this grand Order from the different 
States of the United States, I bid you a hearty welcome 
to the State of Minnesota, 



ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN 3 2 5 

It is a great honor for us to have you within our 
borders to-day, and I wish you a wise and safe and con- 
servative administration, and bid you God-speed in your 
good work. 



RESPONSE 

BY SUPREME MASTER WORKMAN WEBB M'NALL. 

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Auditor, and Brother 

Members of the Supreme Lodge: 

On behalf of forty Grand Lodge Jurisdictions, ex- 
tending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from farther 
north than anyone has traveled, to the Gulf of Mexico, 
embracing four hundred and sixty thousand members 
in this Order, we desire to thank you for the courtesies 
that you have extended to this Supreme Lodge. We 
feel, in the language of one of the speakers, " that 
it is the greatest Order in existence. " We believe it. 
We know it to be true ! We realize that with four hun- 
dred and sixty thousand members — thirty thousand, or 
nearly that number, in your own Jurisdiction of Minne- 
sota — paying to the orphans and widows of our de- 
ceased brothers ten million dollars per annum, laying the 
money down in the laps of the widow and orphan without 
taking a postage stamp for expenses — that we are an 
Order that we all feel proud to belong to. It is the best 
Order on earth! Nearly thirty-five years old, going 
along year in and year out, having the manhood and 
the courage to meet all propositions that come before 
it; not an excitable body, but a conservative body of 
men who have passed through all the places of honor 
in the Grand Lodge Jurisdictions — they come here to 



3 2 6 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

legislate for what? Upon behalf of yourselves or them- 
selves ? No. But upon behalf of the loved ones at home, 
that is, the holders of the beneficiary certificates. 

No one has ever charged, or ever will charge, the 
Supreme Lodge of the Ancient Order of United Work- 
men that it ever legislates for sinister motives or from 
a personal standpoint, but always having in view what is 
to be the best interests of the forty Grand Lodge Juris- 
dictions embraced in the Supreme Lodge. 

We come here this time to the city of St Paul, and a 
noble Jurisdiction in this State — one of the large Juris- 
dictions — a Jurisdiction that is doing good work. And 
I might divert here long enough to say to this Supreme 
Lodge that during the last year we have taken in enough 
members in the Supreme Lodge Jurisdiction to start 
another great big Grand Lodge set off by itself. Twenty- 
five thousand members taken in during the last year, 
over and above the net losses and the lapsations. That 
is another proposition this Order can well feel proud of, 

I might proceed and discuss this matter up one side and 
down the other until dark. To members who are con- 
versant with the laws of this Order and the history of this 
Order as to its record in the past — and upon that we can 
anticipate what its record will be in the future — I want to 
say to you that we are going on forever ! 

This Order will become stronger; it will become 
stronger in Minnesota, and it will become stronger in the 
other thirty-nine Grand Lodge Jurisdictions. And when 
we come to the three Jurisdictions north of the line, and 
the thirty-seven Jurisdictions south of the line, there is 
no dividing line — w r e are people of the same tongue, 
possess the same kind of soil, the same kind of business — 
when we cross over the line, we note no change in meet- 
ing with the brothers that live north of the line. 



ANCIENT ORDER OP UNITED WORKMEN 3 2 7 fc 

Again I say to you that upon behalf of the Supreme 
Lodge we feel proud of the reception you have given us. 
The Mayor did not say in explicit language that he had 
turned over the keys of the city, but I know in his 
great-big-heartedness he is going to do so, and, if not, we 
are going to take them anyhow. If the keys were not 
turned over, we will take them and go ahead just the 
same. And if there are any other courtesies that the 
Mayor has overlooked, we are going to accept them and 
take advantage of them. 

In conclusion, I again thank you upon behalf of the 
Supreme Lodge, and thank you very kindly for the 
attention you have given me. 



PRESENTATION ADDRESS 

BY PAST SUPREME MASTER WORKMAN WILSON* 

Supreme Master Workman and Brethren: 

The duty devolving upon me to-day is also a pleasure. 
I am here on behalf of the members of this Supreme 
Lodge to express their appreciation of the courtesies 
extended to them during their visit to St. Paul. I am 
here also on behalf of the ladies, who are with us, to 
express their appreciation of the courtesy and attention 
shown to them by the Chairman of the Committee, Past 
Grand Master Workman J. J. McCardy. Representing, 
as he does, the Grand Lodge of Minnesota and the Sub- 
ordinate Lodges in the State, we return to them, through 
him, our thanks for the cordial reception and the fraternal 

* In the following address presented to Brother J. J. McCardy, 
Chairman of the Local Committee on Entertainment, a beautiful 
solid silver set. 



328 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

hospitality extended to us during the meeting of the 
Supreme Lodge. 

To him personally, as well as officially, we are indebted 
for many courtesies and kindly acts, which we shall not 
soon forget. We shall carry away with us pleasant 
memories and happy recollections, which can never be 
effaced from our memories. 

We desire, moreover, to leave with Brother McCardy 
a small token of our appreciation, which shall be a per- 
petual token to him of the many friends he has made and 
who, though they will be absent from him, will never 
forget him. It is as sterling in character as that of our 
friend, whom we honor and esteem, and we ask him to 
accept it with our best wishes for his future welfare. 

In accepting the beautiful gift Brother McCardy 
responded in a few well chosen and eloquent words, 
showing his appreciation of the good will of his brethren 
of the Supreme Lodge. 



BURIAL SERVICE AND RITUAL 

A lodge may attend funerals of deceased members, 
when request shall have been made by the deceased or 
her family or friends. 

The lodge shall assemble at the residence of the de- 
ceased member or at the lodge room one-half hour before 
the time set for the services. 

The regalia of all the members shall be draped at the 
top with black crepe. A sprig of evergreen or a flower 
shall be carried in the hands or worn on the left breast. 
In addition the pall-bearers shall wear a band of crepe on 
the left arm. 



ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN 3 2 9 

The remains shall be escorted to the grave or to the 
limits of the town or city, as circumstances may direct; 
the lodge preceding the hearse, and the pall-bearers, as a 
guard of honor, attending the remains. 

Upon arriving at the grave the lodge shall halt and 
allow the remains to pass to the front, where they shall 
be placed on the bier, the left side of the grave. 

The lodge shall surround the grave in the form of a 
circle, space being left at the head of the grave for the 
family and friends of the deceased. 



RITUAL 

The Chief of Honor shall take position at head of 
casket. The Past Chief of Honor shall take position at 
foot of casket. The Lady of Honor, Chief of Cere- 
monies, and Recorder shall take position in the rear of 
the Past Chief of Honor. 

The Past Chief of Honor shall say: 

Beloved Friends and Members of the Degree of Honor, 
we have assembled with sorrowful hearts to pay our last 
tribute of respect to our departed sister. While we 
grieve for the loss that has bereft us of a valued friend 
and worthy member of our Order, we do not lament as 
those without hope, looking forward to a glorious resur- 
rection when we again shall meet her. We are hopeful 
and not despairing, and in that blessed faith shall say 
farewell and leave her here. Believing in the soul's im- 
mortality, it is fitting that we should recognize the hand 
of Divine Providence that directs the course of human 
events. 

Let us pray. 



33° THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

The Past Chief of Honor shall say : 

Almighty God and Loving Father, we beseech Thee 
that out of Thy Infinite compassion, Thou wilt look down 
upon us in mercy as we gather here to consign the body 
of our sister — from whom the soul has departed — to the 
silent tomb. Have pity for our weakness ; sustain us 
with Thy grace ; comfort and console the aching hearts of 
her sorrowing family and friends in their deep affliction 
and teach them to realize the truth that " Whom the Lord 
loveth He chastiseth." Teach them to bow in sub- 
mission before Thy Divine Will, that they may say with 
contrite hearts, " Not my will, O God, but Thine be 
done." May they so live hereafter that beyond the bitter 
pain of parting they may discern the sweetness of a glad 
reunion beyond the grave, that is assured to all who love 
Thee and keep Thy commandments. We pray now that 
Thy blessing may rest upon all here present before Thee. 
Go with us where we go and abide with us where we 
abide. Bless our Fraternity in its mission of charity 
and earthly protection. May it go forward with in- 
creasing success in its labor of love, in administering 
to the wants of the suffering and distressed, and in 
watching over the sick and the dying, guide and protect 
us forevermore, and save us at last. Amen. 



FUNERAL ODE 

Our sister, called from earthy scenes, 

To nobler life has gone. 

The night of death — in Heaven's light 

Is merged in sweetest dawn. 

Firm is our faith in future life, 

Where loved ones gone before 

To part from them no more. 

With blissful joy have welcomed her. 



ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN 33 1 

Refrain : 

From worldly cares and woes of earth 
Her spirit hath release. 
Life's journey o'er, in realms of light 
May her soul rest in peace. 

Chief of Honor (laying a wreath upon the casket) : 
On behalf of the lodge, I give this wreath as a symbol 
of our undying love for our departed sister, and of the 
esteem in which we held her while living, and in which 
we shall henceforth cherish her memory. 

Response by the Lodge : Our sister shall rise again. 

Past Chief of Honor (laying a white flower upon the 
casket) : This is an emblem of the beauty of the golden 
chain of friendship which unites the hearts of our mem- 
bers while living and draws us with tender bonds of sym- 
pathy toward the sorrowing friends of our departed 
sister. 

Response by the Lodge : " Blessed are the dead who 
die in the Lord — even so saith the spirit, for they rest 
. from their labors." 

Lady of Honor (laying a crown of bay leaves or 
flowers upon the casket) : This is a token of the triumph 
that crowns the close of a life lived in accordance with 
the principles of our beneficent Order. 

Response by the Lodge : " We thank God, who giveth 
us the victory." 

Chief of Ceremonies (laying wreath of ivy upon the 
casket) : As a symbol of our belief in the saving truths 
of religion I deposit this Emblem of Faith. 

Response by the Lodge : " Simply to our Faith we 
cling." 

Recorder (laying a branch of evergreen upon the 
casket) : The immortality of the soul does not share in 
the death of the body. 



332 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Response by the Lodge : " For this mortal shall put 
on immortality and we shall be changed/' 
Second stanza of Funeral Ode: 

The grave hath here no victory. 
Stern death hath here no sting. 
The precious promises we plead, 
While to our Faith we cling; 
Though friends are left on earth to mourn 
This thought can ever cheer, 
This golden chain of love unites 
The distant and the near. 
Refrain : 

From worldly toil and earthly cares 
Her spirit hath release. 
Life's journey o'er, in realms of light 
May her soul rest in peace. 

The casket shall be lowered into the grave, the lodge 
solemnly repeating in concert : 

Behold the silver cord is loosed, the golden bowl is 
broken. We commit the body to the grave, where dust 
shall return to the earth and the spirit to God, who gave 
it. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, looking 
for the resurrection and the life to come. 

Third stanza Funeral Ode : 

Farewell, farewell, our sister true; 

A last farewell to thee. 

Rest thou in peace, thy honored name 

Shall not forgotten be. 

Thou wilt be missed, t'were sad to part 

On this bleak earthly shore, 

Had we not hoped in Heaven to meet, 

Where partings are no more. 



Refrain : 



From worldly toils and earthly cares 
Her spirit hath release. 
Life's journey o'er, in realms of bliss 
May her soul rest in peace. 



ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN 333 

Past Chief of Honor: May the Almighty God, our 
Heavenly Father, preserve us by his gracious presence 
amid the trials of this mortal life and at death receive 
us into peace everlasting. Amen. 

The lodge may now disband and prepare to leave the 
cemetery with such form and order as may have pre- 
viously been decided upon. 

Unanimously adopted by the Superior Lodge. 



THE HONORED DEAD 

To the Supreme Lodge A. O. U. W.: 

Your Committee on Honored Dead respectfully submit 
the following : 

Since the meeting of the Supreme Lodge, one year ago, 
sixteen Past Grand Master Workmen have finished their 
work and gone to render their account. 

" One army of the living God 
To His command we bow. 
Part of the host have crossed the flood, 
And part are crossing now/' 

Year by year the number of those who " cross the 
flood " is increasing, and soon the majority of our be- 
loved will gather on the " thither shore." 

God's messenger has been choice in his selection dur- 
ing the past year. Two of the most active and best 
beloved of our officers have been taken from among us. 
We miss them much because we loved them much. 

For them we have no grief or tears. They need not 
our sympathy. No longer do th^" " die daily "—they 
live forevermore. 



334 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Gathered at the graves of our dead, we remember that 
we are mortal. 

In far-off Palestine is an empty tomb, beside which 
once sat " a young man clothed in white raiment." 

Remembering this empty tomb, we stand where our 
own beloved are entombed and cry in triumph : " O 
grave, where is thy victory ! O death, where is now thy 
sting?" 

We are not unmindful of the sorrow and heartache 
which is the heritage of our bereaved ones. In their 
presence our own tears fall, our hearts are sad ; but joy 
mingles with our pain and smiles and tears are blended. 

We are dumb in the presence of such grief save only 
as our lips whisper the prayer that our Father's glorious 
face may shed its gentle rays upon the uplifted and tear- 
stained faces of the widows and orphans of our dead, and 
thus show them the way to the land where no night is 
and death is not known. 

Fervently we pray that the mantle of our Father's 
charity may enfold them ; the light of Hope illumine their 
pathway, and Heaven's protection be their shield and 
defense. 

We pray, also, for ourselves, that our lives may be 
helpful to others, and, dying, we shall leave behind us 
influences which shall benefit and ennoble our fellowmen. 

Your committee recommend that tributes rendered at 
this service be published in our proceedings, and copies 
of the same be furnished to the families of the deceased 
and memorial pages be assigned for each departed 
brother. 



ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN 335 
WORK OF FATHER UPCHURCH 

ANCIENT ORDER UNITED WORKMEN 

Fraternity took up the burden of humanity when 
Father Upchurch and his associates organized the A. O. 
U. W., the first American secret society of its kind, over 
thirty years ago. No record of the nineteenth century 
that does not recognize the work of this humble Penn- 
sylvanian in behalf of the widows and orphans can in any 
sense be deemed complete. Though he builded better 
than he knew, John Jordon Upchurch died in comparative 
obscurity in Missouri, very nearly a stranger in a strange 
land, and none of the emoluments of office in the great 
fraternal system he set in motion ever fell to his lot. He 
died, as he had lived, a plain, kindly-hearted mechanic, 
leaving for his family only the money that came from his 
insurance certificate in the parent order. But the stately 
monument raised to his memory in St. Louis, where he 
sleeps in the beauty and quietude of God's Acre, tells of 
a glory greater than the glory of him who taketh a city. 
The victories of those who blazed the pathway of fra- 
ternity were won by a little band of quiet, determined 
men, whose sole motive was the good of their fellow 
men: 

" Not as the conqueror comes, 
They, the true-hearted, came; 
Not with the roll of stirring drums, 
And the trumpet that sings of fame." 

History has written them as true benefactors of the 
race; their glory shall not fade away. And we who 
to-day sound the praises of fraternity sing not of arms, 
but of the man, leaving to some newer Virgil the laure- 



33 6 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

ate's praise for deeds done amid the clash of arms and 
the frenzied tumult of battle. The victories that have 
followed the flag of fraternity are the victories of plenty 
over poverty, of intelligence over ignorance, of brother- 
hood over narrow and selfish ways of living. Father 
Upchurch, in his own crude way, put a new force into 
being and showed us the road that leadeth to opportunity, 
and though the big world of this twentieth century rushes 
past his grave with hurrying, noisy feet, his memory will 
live in the thought of every true fraternalist, no matter 
to what plan or which society he may hold allegiance. 

Fraternal Tribune. 



OUR RESERVE FUND 

It has been one of the boasts of the Fraternal Bene- 
ficial Orders that it is their leading feature to pay as they 
go, and collect no reserve fund as against future liability. 
This enables them to afiford protection at less cost than 
the life insurance companies, and thus extend their benef- 
icence to a very large class of worthy people to whom 
life insurance is impossible. In defense of this system it 
has been urged that it is unsafe for beneficial societies 
with a representative government and frequent change of 
officers to accumulate a large reserve fund, and thus 
tempt men of improper motives to seek positions in which 
it would be under their control. Investigation of the ex- 
perience of fraternal societies, notably the A. O. U. W., 
within the past years has taught them a fact they did not 
realize before, and that is, as men grow older their 
liability to death increases, which increases the cost to 
the society of their protection, and that as the society 



ANCIENT ORDER OF UNITED WORKMEN 337 

grows older along with the advance of its membership 
into the higher ages its death rate will be increased, 
which increases the cost of its protection. This is leading 
these societies to consider whether it is not feasible for 
them to provide an adequate reserve from the beginning, 
so as to keep the cost of protection always within com- 
petitive limits. This leads to an investigation of what 
has been done by similar societies, some of them having a 
membership close to a million. One of the oldest of 
these, the Ancient Order of Foresters, celebrated its one 
hundred and fiftieth anniversary recently, at which time it 
had a reserve of $28,000,000, and its history shows as 
careful and safe handling as does the history of any other 
institution having a like accumulation. The Manchester 
Unity of Odd Fellows changed from the pay-as-you-go 
system in 1853, and now has a reserve fund of over 
$30,000,000, which has been as safely handled as the 
funds of any other fiduciary institution in England. Our 
British cousins are not our superiors in integrity or 
financial wisdom. What they have done with such mani- 
fest advantage to their societies, and with perfect safety, 
American societies can do. But one of two things is 
possible in institutions that pay death benefits, whatever 
may be their names, or style of business, and these are a 
constantly increasing rate as members grow older and 
the society grows older, or a continuously even rate with 
a reserve. Wisdom in the end will dictate the reserve. 

The A. O. U. W. Overseer. 



KNIGHTS OF HONOR 

Historical. — Seventeen members of the Ancient Order of 
United Workmen, including members of the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows, led by James A. Demaree, founded the Knights 
of Honor at Louisville, Ky., in 1873. They adopted a plan of 
assessment, by which members between 45 and 55 years of age 
at the time of joining paid a higher rate, being one of the earliest 
assessment societies to adopt this principle, which now prevails 
almost universally. They grew rapidly in numbers till, in 1895, 
they had a membership of 126,000. At that time they began a 
reorganization of their system of assessments, bringing them to 
the standard of fraternal insurance generally accepted, and in 
consequence suffered a loss of members, the number in 1897 hav- 
ing fallen off to 96,000. The effect of the reorganization has been 
beneficial. A member may carry insurance of $500, $1000, or 
$2000. More than $52,000,000 has been paid in death benefits 
since the organization. 

The Order was established with no more secrecy than such as 
is necessary to keep out intruders and unworthy men from its 
benefits ; upright men of all political parties and religious creeds 
being welcomed. No oath is administered at initiation; only a 
promise to obey the laws of the Order, and " protect a worthy 
brother in his adversities and afflictions." The would-be mem- 
ber is required to profess a belief in God, and must be able to 
earn a livelihood for himself and family. Beneficiaries must be 
the nearest dependent relatives, and certificates of membership 
cannot be used as collateral nor are moneys paid in their redemp- 
tion subject to seizure to satisfy debts of the insured. Lodges 
pay sick benefits to members at their option, and handle their 
own funds to that end. 

In 1875 the Supreme Lodge established a side or auxiliary 
degree of Protection, to which Knights of Honor, their wives, 
mothers, unmarried daughters, and sisters, eighteen or more 
years of age, were eligible. Only a few lodges of this degree 
were instituted during the next year or two, and in 1877 the 
Supreme Lodge repealed the law creating it; whereupon repre- 
sentatives of the degree meet in Louisville, Ky., and organized 
the independent Order known as the Knights and Ladies of 
Honor (q. v.). 

In 1878 the Order suffered a terrible reverse in the epidemic 
of yellow fever, which brought the death of 193 members, with 
death losses to the Order amounting to $385,000. Despite these 
losses, and the departure of those who formed the Knights and 

339 



34° THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Ladies of Honor, it has grown until it has thirty-six Grand 
Lodges, representing 2600 subordinate Lodges, and about 130,000 
members. 

Note. — This order we have not been able to present in 
our usual manner, with illustrating addresses. It has, 
however, a historic place in the development of these 
beneficiary societies, among which one is often the parent 
of another, and it seemed best to present even this bare 
historical statement in its appropriate place. 



KNIGHTS AND LADIES OF HONOR 

Historical. — In May, 1875, the Supreme Lodge of the Knights 
of Honor authorized a degree for females, which was designated 
the Degree of Protection, — of which all beneficiary members were 
required to be members of the Knights of Honor, — consisting of 
their wives, mothers, widows or unmarried daughters or sisters 
over eighteen years of age, and several lodges of this Degree of 
Protection were organized during the two succeeding years. The 
movement, however, did not enlist strongly the interest of the 
Supreme Lodge, and in 1877 the law creating the degree was 
repealed. 

The lodges already instituted, however, held a representative 
convention in Louisville, Ky., in September, 1877, and decided 
to form a permanent organization, and proceeded to elect and 
install the necessary officers of a Provisional Supreme Lodge. 

A year later, September 19, 1878, the Supreme Lodge of Pro- 
tection, Knights and Ladies of Honor, held its first annual meet- 
ing in Louisville, Ky. 

In 1881 the General Assembly of Kentucky amended the act 
of incorporation which had been passed in April, 1878, by strik- 
ing out the words " of Protection " in the title, and by substitut- 
ing for the original membership limitation clause the words " all 
acceptable white persons, male and female/' Thus was laid 
broad and deep foundations for the future growth and prosperity 
of the Knights and Ladies of Honor, which dates its independent 
existence as a fraternal Order from September 6, 1877. 

The business of the Order is conducted through a Supreme 
Lodge, Grand Lodges, co-extensive with their several State 
boundaries, and Local or Subordinate Lodges. It has at present 
sixteen Grand Lodge Jurisdictions, and a membership which 
extends into nearly every State in the Union. The Order is, in 
the purest sense, a representative organization, the members elect- 
ing their officers and making their own laws through their chosen 
representatives. _ The Supreme Lodge is the head and sole legis- 
lative body, having full power to enact laws for its own govern- 
ment, and for the government of the Grand and Subordinate 
Lodges. It also exclusively controls the collection and disburse- 
ment of the relief, or insurance, fund and the general, or expense, 
fund connected therewith. Local and Subordinate Lodges, how- 
ever, may create, hold, and disburse benefits for sickness, accident, 
or other purposes at their pleasure, independent of the Supreme 
Lodge. 

341 



342 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

THE TWOFOLD OBJECT OF THE ORDER 

1. To unite fraternally all acceptable white men and 
women, of any reputable business, occupation, or pro- 
fession, between the ages of eighteen and fifty-five, in- 
clusive ; to give all possible moral and material aid to its 
members and those dependent upon them, by social 
gatherings, by moral, instructive, and scientific lectures; 
by mutual encouragement in business and by assisting 
each other to obtain employment. 

2. To provide indemnity to the beneficiaries of those 
who die by the creation and maintenance of a Relief 
Fund. This fund is authorized by the organic law of 
the Order and maintained by monthly contributions from 
those members who desire to share in its benefits and who 
can pass the required medical examination. 

Being organized upon the basis of a membership both 
male and female, the Order has carefully tabulated the 
number of deaths, male and female, respectively, since 
1878, and has concluded that the death rate among males 
is the greater. General statistics compiled during recent 
years show that women, as a rule, live longer than men, 
and their exposure to accidental and violent death and 
by the abuse of intoxicants is far less. Another fact 
tending to establish the same conclusion is that the aver- 
age policy life among the decedents is greater among the 
females than among the males, the female average being 
6 years, 7 months, and 4 days, while the male average 
was 6 years, 2 months, and 5 days ; a difference of nearly 
half a year in favor of female risks. 

The Order has also made an important feature of its 
Relief Fund. Relief Fund certificates are issued for 
$500, $1000, or $2000, as applicants may desire, but no 



KNIGHTS AND LADIES OF HONOR 343 

person may hold more than one certificate. Upon the 
receipt of satisfactory proofs of the death of a Relief 
Fund member in good standing at the time of death, such 
a sum of money is paid to the beneficiary of the deceased 
as is specified in his or her Relief Fund certificate. Only 
members of the family or persons dependent upon or 
related to the insured may be designated as beneficiaries. 
Monthly contributions to the Relief Fund are required 
from all the holders of Relief Fund certificates, in ac- 
cordance with an established schedule of rates. The 
creation and disbursement of this fund brings the Order 
into subjection to all the essential principles of life insur- 
ance laws of the various States and to the rulings of the 
various Insurance Departments. The same fidelity to 
essential underlying principles in the construction of its 
schedule of rates; the same loyalty and obedience to en- 
acted law and the rulings of Insurance Departments is 
required in the manipulation and disbursement of the 
Relief Fund as is required of any other life insurance 
organization. This being the case and the Knights and 
Ladies of Honor being a self-governing Order, every- 
thing pertaining to the general subject of life insurance 
becomes of paramount interest not only to the officers 
and heads of the executive departments, but to every 
member of the Order as well. 

The total membership May I, 1903, was 66,658, being 
a net gain in April, 1903, of 1429, when $1,755,500 new 
insurance was written. The benefits paid since organi- 
zation to May 16, 1903, amounted to $19,643,843.95. 

The Supreme Lodge, having been originally chartered 
in Kentucky in 1877, was again chartered in 1885 by the 
State of Missouri, and in 1891 was incorporated under 
the statutes of Indiana. Its membership is distributed in 
nearly every State in the Union, being about equally 



344 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

divided between the two sexes. The Supreme Lodge 
exclusively controls the collection and disbursement of 
the Relief Fund. The Relief Fund is maintained by 
monthly assessments upon members participating in its 
benefits, and who are distinguished in the laws of the 
society as Relief Fund members. The Relief Fund de- 
partment comprises three divisions, according to the 
amount specified in the Relief Fund certificate held by the 
members thereof. The several divisions and amount of 
benefits payable in each division are as follows : Division 
I, $500; division 2, $1000; division 3, $2000. No per- 
son can hold more than one Relief Fund certificate in 
this Order, or become a member of more than one 
division at the same time. All moneys received from 
assessments are pooled to pay death losses, regardless 
of the division to which the deceased may have belonged. 
One assessment is levied on the first of each month, and 
if not paid during the month the member stands 
suspended by operation of law. Acceptable persons 
between the ages of 18 and 65 may be admitted as social 
members without medical examination. They are ex- 
empt from contributing to the Relief Fund, but cannot 
be Relief Fund members, nor are they eligible to the 
office of Financial Secretary or Treasurer or Representa- 
tive to the Grand Lodge. 



/ 



THE GROWTH OF FRATERNITY 



• Fraternal beneficial societies, which not very many 
years ago were almost an unknown quantity, have with 
giant strides caught up with the times, until now they 
have become one of the essentials of our civilization. 



KNIGHTS AND LADIES OF HONOR 345 

The absolute need for protection is so manifest, and these 
societies supply the needs of mankind so thoroughly 
along the line for which they were organized, that they 
have become indispensable. Millions upon millions of 
men in this broad land number themselves among the 
vast army of the fraternal society. The present high and 
important position in which these societies find them- 
selves has not been the wild growth of a day nor a year. 
Its unfolding has been steady and regular, and it will 
continue to grow and to branch out until it reaches the 
furthermost corner of civilization. 

In its infancy there were, naturally, many obstacles 
to be overcome, and defects and weaknesses were appar- 
ent on every hand. The fundamental principle, however, 
— that of brotherly love and protection, — was right, and 
the apostles of fraternity were neither daunted nor dis- 
couraged by the defects and weak points that they en- 
countered. With right on their side, there could be no 
such word as fail, and they went to work and built up 
stronger barriers where weaknesses existed, and where 
defects were in evidence they were corrected, and more 
zealous and thorough work done. 

Being built upon a foundation as firm as adamant, 
taking as its pivotal principle the Golden Rule — that rule 
of man toward man which ranks so closely to the com- 
mand, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
heart," that His Son says it is " like unto it," — we can feel 
assured it has come to stay. The spirit of fraternity has 
grown so rapidly, and is being taught so thoroughly, that 
it has far exceeded the wildest anticipations of its fathers. 
It is not in any sense derogatory w r hen it is said that, as 
weaknesses have manifested themselves in the past, so w r e 
must expect to have them to cope with in the future. 
Fraternal societies are only in a crude state as yet, but 



34^ THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

they are becoming more and more perfect each day ; they 
are learning from each- new experience, and the mistakes 
of the past will serve to make them but stronger in the 
future. 

And the defects that arise from time to time are not 
defects in the great structure, but rather in the individual 
member, for man is but mortal and prone to error and 
mistake. These conditions have been met and overcome 
in the past, and just so sure will they be overcome and 
eliminated in the future. Yes, the fraternal society has 
come to stay, and long after we have mouldered into dust 
that God-given institution will be caring for the widow 
and protecting the orphan. The years will roll by, and 
with each successive year a higher standard of perfec- 
tion will be set up ; men will come more and more into 
harmony with the teachings of God and the necessities 
of man, and should we in the dim and distant future be 
permitted to take a retrospective view of what has been 
accomplished, we would be amazed at the grand result ! 

Fraternity has been elevated to its proper sphere when, 
in the words of one of the active and loyal Knights of 
Honor in New York, it is placed "next to the cross." 
Christ himself laid the cornerstone of fraternalism when 
He said, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." The 
importance and the great depth of this command was 
never fully realized until the germ of fraternity and 
brotherly love took root in the hearts of those who, later, 
gave it forth to the world. The cords of fraternity have 
drawn and knit men together as companions and brothers, 
such as the church has never succeeded in doing. The old 
crabbed, selfish nature of man is gradually being melted 
like snow in the summer sun, until now you can grasp 
the hand of your neighbor and call him brother, no matter 
what his sect, or politics, or position in life, and feel that 



KNIGHTS AND LADIES OF HONOR 347 

there is a bond of sympathy between you — and that, the 
bond of fraternity. 

Let us be up and doing. We have an order of which 
we can feel justly proud; we have a lodge that can be 
whatever we make it. We have a gospel that brings 
" healing in its w T ings," and in the same measure as we 
help others may we expect to be helped ourselves. Let 
us do our own duty thoroughly, no matter in what 
channel it lies, looking for no other reward than that 
which comes from the knowledge of some good work 
done. The individual needs the help of the Order, and the 
Order needs the assistance of the individual, and when 
we come to understand this, and act upon it, we will be 
doing our share toward erecting a monument that will 
last to the end of time. y ^/^ 

Sextus, in K. of H. Reporter. 



LIFE INSURANCE— A CHRISTIAN DUTY 

Next to love of God comes love of family; duty to 
God first, duty to family second. Faithfulness in dis- 
charge of the first duty implies faithfulness in the 
second. Obligations to God imply the obligations to 
those whom He has entrusted to our care. To do the 
best for the present while living, regardless of the future, 
is by no means the full duty to man. " He lives long who 
lives well." We recognize that it is a Christian duty 
to leave wife and children the heritage of a good name, 
and although " a good name is rather to be chosen than 
great riches," it is also a Christian duty to leave them 
as far as possible a comfortable maintenance. " A good 
man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children." 
To make provision for the future is unselfish, and un- 



34-8 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

selfishness is a trait of Christian character. Life insur- 
ance enables one to carry out his principle of Christian 
duty and unselfishness more perfectly than any other 
system that has ever been devised. The system is, indeed, 
so perfect that little or no room is left for an excuse to a 
man with a family for not making future provision for 
them. It is true, in many cases, more or less self denial 
is required to pay the premiums. If, however, anyone 
attempts to argue with himself that he is not required to 
make such a sacrifice, he should consider which hardship 
is the greater, for him to pay the premiums, or for his 
family to get along without the insurance thus provided 
in case he be taken from them. The man who places a 
proper estimate upon life insurance will not be without 
it, and he will cling to it with unyielding tenacity, even 
though it requires the closest economy to pay the pre- 
mium. 

A man's life will be freer from anxiety by having life 
insurance, as he knows that in event of his death it will 
prove a safeguard to his family against want and hard- 
ship. Furthermore, the improved plans adopted by the 
companies of late years afford excellent opportunities for 
providing for old age. Many young men and young 
women owe their education to the wise provision made 
for them by life insurance. It provides, therefore, not 
only against want and for old age, but is a potent factor 
for the promotion of the best interests of society. If 
anyone having a family is inclined to the belief that 
life insurance fails of application in his case, let him take 
a sheet of paper and write on one side the arguments in 
favor of life insurance, and on the other arguments 
against it. In comparing results he will find many 
arguments in favor of it and none against it. 

Presbyterian Messenger. 



ROYAL ARCANUM 

Historical. — Dr. Darius Wilson, of Boston, planned the organ- 
ization of the Royal Arcanum in 1877, and June 23 of that year 
invited John A. Cummings, a publisher; Julius M. Swain, mer- 
chant; Prof. George W. Blish, elocutionist; W. O. Robson, ste- 
nographer; Charles K. Darling, merchant; Rev. William Bradley, 
Dr. J. H. Wright, then a student of medicine ; Ezra M. Craw- 
ford, book-keeper, and William Goodhue, to his house, 1066 
Washington Street, where they all underwent a careful medical 
examination, and paid the fees of membership, and then organ- 
ized them as Alpha Council, No. 1, of Boston; and they received 
into their number Mr. M. J. Chapin as the first initiate. 

Dr. Wilson had chosen the name, prepared the ritual, and had 
the laws and blanks printed, and was chosen by the others first 
Supreme Regent. 

A Committee on Laws re-arranged and perfected the code of 
laws with much laborious pains. 

The first annual meeting, in April, 1878, of three Grand Coun- 
cils (Massachusetts, Ohio, and Michigan) showed sixty-four 
Subordinate Councils formed, and three $3000 death benefits 
paid. 

In 1879 the Legislature of Massachusetts authorized the Su- 
preme Council to meet outside the State; and the third annual 
session was held in May, 1880, in Detroit, Mich. At that time the 
Supreme Secretary reported twelve Grand Councils, in as many 
States ; 470 Subordinate Councils, and 20,500 members. The 
tenth Supreme meeting, in 1887, showed 16 Grand Councils, 1013 
Subordinate Councils, and 75>ooo members. The Legislature 
passed an act enabling them to meet in Canada, and the eleventh 
session, in 1888, met in Toronto. The twentieth anniversary, in 
1897, showed 21 Grand Councils, 1728 Subordinate Councils, and 
195,000 members ; while the twenty-fifth, in 1902, showed 26 
Grand Councils, 1968 Subordinate Councils, and 240,928 mem- 
bers ; the total payments to beneficiaries had reached the sum of 
$70,516,035.14, and a reserve fund had been accumulated of 
$1,636,688.45. 

The Royal Arcanum was organized in the belief that J:he spirit 
of fraternity could be depended on to take the place of a multi- 
tude of paid agents, and so greatly reduce the cost of life insur- 
ance. -The experience of more than a quarter of a century has 
proved the soundness of this belief. A low rate of assessment 
has attracted a large membership, and where the increasing death 
rate of members aging continually seemed to threaten disaster, 

m 



35° THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

the Order was able to increase the scale of its assessments with- 
out losing its members. It has successfully accumulated a 
reserve fund of over a million and a half, and a number of the 
Councils have followed the example of the Supreme Council, 
which erected a substantial building for the preservation of its 
records in Boston in 1892. 

While a considerable number of the members maintain their 
connection with the Order simply as a sound and economical 
insurance society, a large number find in the meetings a pleasant 
and wholesome resource, and carry out its fraternal spirit in 
many helpful ways. In the Subordinate Council, the sick, the 
unemployed, and the unfortunate have found true brothers, whose 
acts of kind assistance are more than can be recorded, while 
recorded statistics show that sick benefits, and friendly help, 
quite outside of the legal obligations of the Order, have been 
paid through the Councils to the amount of more than $100,000 
a year ; an extra assistance, self-imposed by the spirit of brother- 
hood ; and there is no doubt that as large a sum is expended in 
ways not recorded. Social acquaintance in the Councils has also 
led to the endowment of Hospital beds, the organization of 
Wheelmen's Clubs and Outing Clubs, and in some places the 
Order has furnished the chief friendly association of the 
community. 



TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY* 

BY JOSEPH A. LANGFITTV, SUPREME REGENT, GREETING. 

Brothers of the Royal Arcanum: 

This is the day of Jubilee. Diademed with dazzling 
deeds, our Order sits enthroned in the hearts of all its 
people — in the minds of thoughtful men. From northern 
pine to southern palm, from Shasta's snows to Katahdin, 
everywhere the Royal Arcanum hosts are this day sing- 
ing songs of gladness, jubilating triumphant and victo- 
rious over every obstacle to success or progress with 
which they have been confronted in the past. Our lines 
have fallen in pleasant places. We live in the blaze of an 

* The Royal Arcanum celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary 
June 23, 1902. 



ROYAL ARCANUM 35* 

advanced civilization ; in the freest and most enlightened 
land ever kissed by the sun or the waves, the only country 
in the world " where an honest man is the only aristocrat, 
and the man clothed in a rag stands upon an equality 
with the one in purple." 

As Americans we rejoice in our citizenship. As 
Arcanians let us rejoice in our membership. What the 
Stars and Stripes are among the flags of all nations the 
banner of Virtue, Mercy, and Charity, crowned and 
starred, is to the emblems of all the other great fraterni- 
ties that in the last half century have put poverty to flight, 
protected the home, benefited mankind, and made the 
world better. 

Twenty-five years ago the Royal Arcanum, like the 
Alpine flower amid the crested snows, crept out among 
the cold and selfish life insurance companies — an untried, 
untrusted experiment. Our boat was on an unknown sea 
without chart or compass, naught to guide us save the 
glittering north star of Principle, and the desire to pro- 
tect the home and promote the brotherhood of man. 
Starting there, frail in strength but strong in faith, we 
have grown steadily, sturdily, and continuously, until 
to-day we are firmly established in forty-four States and 
territories of the Union and in five British provinces. 
We have one Supreme, twenty-eight Grand, and two 
thousand Subordinate Councils, with a total membership 
now approximating two hundred and fifty thousand men, 
and certain to exceed that number before the snowflakes 
cover the blossoms of the year. A quarter of a million 
in a quarter of a century — we have built on achievement 
our tower of renown. To the widows and orphans of 
deceased members we have distributed over seventy mil- 
lions of dollars to silver-line the clouds of care and gild 
the leaves of life. We have contributed to our brethren 



352 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

myriad deeds of friendship, love, and kindness, of tender 
sympathy, of fraternal affection — generous, willing, un- 
selfish deeds that all the diamonds of Golconda and all 
the gold which the ships of Tarsus ever brought from the 
mines of Ophir could not buy nor bring to pass. 

It is said in the Talmud that Noah had no light in all 
the ark save that which came from precious stones. The 
history of the Royal Arcanum is so replete with precious 
shining deeds as, without other light, will make each page 
illuminant and lustrous in all the years to come. The 
principles of Virtue, Mercy, and Charity have mightily 
prevailed. With them have been Wisdom to teach, Con- 
servatism to guide, and Honesty to control all action ; and 
Harmony, like the fabled halcyon, has smoothed the 
troubled waves, while Prosperity " has come down from 
her purple and golden cloud " to walk in brightness 
always by our side. And over all, enthusing and inspir- 
ing all, has been the spirit of Fraternity, filling with throb- 
bing life and vigor the dull and pulseless clay. 

In the days of old and magic a wholu army, by the 
power of enchantment, was turned, 'tis said, to stone. 

" There stood the war horse, his nostril all wide. 
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride.' , 

Stiff and silent he stood there as if carved from the 
quarry. And there stood the knight, all accoutered for 
battle, with hand of stone upon the stony mane ; all silent, 
sleeping, inanimate, and dead. Then all at once came the 
awakening blast of the Enchanter's horn, and marvelous 
the effect. The army springs to life and motion, the war 
horse neighs, curvets, and prances, while the warrior 
leaps upon his back, and, with lance in rest, rides forth 
to battle, conquering and to conquer. 

Thus the Royal Arcanum, mighty in its principles and 



ROYAL ARCANUM 353 

purposes, is ever inspirited and enlivened by that Fra- 
ternity among its members which pervades with its sweet 
and pleasing essence the entire atmosphere of the Order, 
hastening the day 

" When man to man the world over, 

Shall brother be and a' that." • • 



God bless the Royal Arcanum! It stands for the 
Brotherhood of Man, which selfishness has led us to dis- 
regard. It stands for the home, around which cluster all 
the best and tenderest sentiments of the human heart. 
Like the Spirit of Liberty enlightening the world, like 
fountains in the desert watering the earth and spreading 
fertility, like a Temple of Truth, it stands up four-square 
to all the world, its every act and deed and principle and 
teaching in harmony with the highest planes of human 
^thought and life. 

When vessels are at sea, a land breeze blowing, the 
sailors, by placing themselves in the focus of the mainsail, 
can hear the church-bells ringing a hundred miles ashore. 
So we, to-day, as in our gallant ship we proudly sail upon 
our voyage, with the fraternal, protecting breezes crowd- 
ing every canvas, standing in the focus of the mainsail, 
can hear, over all the land, " Safe journey " and " God- 
speed" ; can hear the prayers of grateful hearts, the 
praise of thankful tongues ; can hear the voices of happy 
children, by us made free from sorrow, and the songs of 
home and humanity. So mote it be ! 

Sail on, O Ship Arcanian ! Happy and prosperous 
thy voyage, peaceful thy haven of rest. Waves bear 
thee softly, winds toss thee gently, God keep thee always 
in sunshine and storm ! 



354 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

FRATERNITY 

An Address* 
by hon. john a. lee, lieutenant governor of missouri 

Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen: 

I understand that this is a meeting of the representa- 
tives of all the Fraternal Organizations of Missouri, and I 
regret that a previous engagement to speak at another 
meeting this evening has prevented me from being pres- 
ent at this, and from hearing many of the addresses on 
the programme. 

It would be presumptuous for me to attempt to address 
the meeting, which is composed of the wise men — the 
experts — of Fraternalism, along practical or technical 
lines. I fear that my ignorance would appear, and that 
my errors would lead me to humiliation, for some of you 
would be constantly getting back at me on practical points. 
My predicament reminds me of a story of an Irishman's 
experience and ready wit. 

He was walking across the street when a milk wagon 
came swinging around the corner, knocked him down 
and ran over him, rolling him in the dust. He picked 
himself up and was shaking the dust off of himself, when 
the German milkman, having felt the concussion, poked 
his head out of the side of his wagon and yelled at the 
Irishman, " Look oudt." The Irishman in turn yelled, 
" Phy? Are you coming back at me? " 

And so I fear that I would be situated in making an 
address on practical Fraternalism to this assemblage of 
the leaders of thought in that line in Missouri. 

* To the Fraternal Congress of Missouri, St. Louis, December 
10, igoi. 



ROYAL ARCANUM 355 

The great principle of co-operation for mutual benefit 
and protection is called Fraternalism ; the spirit which 
promotes it is called Fraternity. It represents happiness 
in this life for those who are its beneficiaries, and hope of 
eternal life and happiness for those who foster and pro- 
mote it. 

We all differ in relation to our opinions, many of us as 
to our religious views, and as to our ideals and standards. 

I think that the greatest and grandest personal expo- 
nent of the principles of true Fraternity the world has 
ever known was " Christ the Nazarene " ; and that His 
teachings of Fraternalism were the truest, gentlest, and 
wisest ever imparted to mankind. 

We have all heard the beautiful stories of Damon and 
Pythias, of David and Jonathan, and other examples of 
exalted friendship and fraternity, and have been charmed 
and delighted w T ith them, but they do not stir our souls 
and melt our hearts as do the words of the Man of 
Galilee. 

Fraternalism takes up and carries onward and practi- 
cally applies the teachings of religion, not with a purpose 
of superseding religious hope and faith by its teachings, 
but because of a condition which has arisen from 
necessity. 

That necessity has arisen because, unfortunately, the 
world has always been cursed by religious dissension, 
fanaticism, and intolerance, and Fraternalism has been 
compelled to intervene and to extend to mankind the 
blessings and benefits, which should be the practical part 
of religious work, from the broad platform of the uni- 
versal brotherhood of mankind and the fatherhood of 
God. 

The popular principle of personal equality based upon 
equal merit and character is recognized and is a main 



356 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

feature of Fraternalism, and into the portals of Pythian- 
ism, Masonry, Odd Fellowship, and other orders the 
great, the rich, the proud, walk on equal terms beside 
the humble, the poor, and the meek. 

The great Fraternal organizations are examples of 
unselfishness of purpose and pure philanthropy. They 
are not conducted for the enrichment of a few and the 
impoverishment of many, but for the protection and bless- 
ing of all and the oppression of none. 

There is a spirit of independence in Fraternal mem- 
bership. Each contributes to the support of the organi- 
zation proportionate to the benefit received, and none are 
oppressed. The benefits are not charitable, but are given 
to those who deserve them because it is their right to 
receive them, and the spirit of independence is kept 
inviolable. 

Missouri is a great State and field for Fraternalism. 
Our people are cosmopolitan, they have come from all 
parts of the world, and there is such a blending and com- 
mingling of blood as makes the people of all this State 
closely akin. 

Consequently Fraternalism grows and thrives in the 
State rapidly and resultfully, bringing great happiness to 
our people. 

I find here to-night a Congress of Missouri Fraternal 
organizations, all of which are engaged in the glorious 
work of mutual help and protection of their members. 

I find here no spirit of intolerance, no bickering or 
jealousies, but, on the contrary, I find a broad and gentle 
spirit of respect, esteem, and courtesy, truly typical of 
the higher ideals of the true mission of mankind. 

Therefore, Mr. President, Ladies, and Gentlemen, I, as 
the humble representative of the people of this great 
State, bid you Godspeed in your noble work. 



ROYAL ARCANUM 357 

May you and the blessed organizations which you rep- 
resent go onward, forever onward, in this glorious work 
of teaching the lessons of morality, of gentleness, kind- 
ness, and fraternity, in guarding the unprotected and 
helpless, relieving want and distress, caring for the sick, 
consoling the bereaved, and mourning for the dead. 



THE GROWTH OF FRATERNITY 

An Address* 

by chas. h. avery, past grand regent of the royal 
arcanum in new york. 

It may be profitable to trace the history of the Fraternal 
movement in ancient and modern times, and note the 
growth of the combination of Fraternity with business 
through its various phases, as exemplified in the civiliza- 
tion of Greece, Rome, and Germany, and its rapid devel- 
opment among the Friendly Societies of England, and 
its culmination in the Fraternal Beneficiary Associations 
in the United States. In the great number of these some 
were launched with little wise consideration of the prin- 
ciples upon w r hich permanent success must be attained. 

But there are those that were organized by men of 
brains, who had learned by such experience as the time 
allowed something of the proper methods of manage- 
ment, and by a course of study acquired such a general 
knowledge of the subject as to be able to establish bene- 
ficiary orders that, from the first, gave promise of a suc- 
cessful career, and made progress, in spite of the violent 
opposition that assailed them from almost every quarter. 
Some of these even failed. The field was yet an almost 

*At a Public Meeting of Fillmore Council. 



358 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

untried one. Experience held out but a weak and trem- 
bling hand. It was in the darkness of this chaotic and 
invective-burdened period that a new light appeared in 
the firmament of the Fraternal world. The Royal Ar- 
canum had come. The darkness was dispelled. Out of 
chaos came order, and the darts of invective fell shat- 
tered from her shield. A great social Order had come 
into being. Great, in the sense that it was the guardian 
of the home, the protector of the widow and the orphan. 
Great in the possibilities of its achievements. Great be- 
cause it was the product of an intelligence in which hon- 
esty of purpose and honesty of action were combined, and 
in which sound principles of finance w T ere grounded. It 
was all this, and it was more, but its foundation was 
firmly laid. It reached down into the rock of justice and 
reason. It had come to stay. 

Now our young manhood contemplates more seriously 
the future than in former years, and life insurance be- 
comes a more popular subject for consideration, and the 
old-line companies have been benefited by reason thereof. 
Thus they have been the beneficiaries of the Fraternal 
Societies movement, and instead of drawing from we 
have added to the membership of those old companies. 
The percentage of increase in their business since Fra- 
ternal Beneficiary Orders came into being, as compared 
with any like period prior thereto, has been so great as to 
establish beyond question that the Fraternal Beneficiary 
Orders have been a cause of revenue instead of a detri- 
ment to their business. We are pleased that this is so. 

We never contemplated interference with their busi- 
ness. We had our own independent sphere of work, and 
if in any way our insurance feature seems in conflict with 
that statement, it is explained by the fact that we only 
sought to reach an element that the insurance people did 



ROYAL ARCANUM 359 

not reach, and did not try to reach — that we occupied a 
territory that their prospectors deemed so barren in value- 
yielding material as to be rejected entirely, while confin- 
ing their attention to the more promising and richer- 
looking outcroppings of the higher country beyond. 

But when we found in this rejected territory, in the 
constituent elements of its formation, pebbles — crystals 
in countless numbers, that assayed diamonds in the rough, 
that polished into human brilliants — then we were told 
that we were conflicting, that we were interfering, with 
the prerogatives of another. Then it was that a conflict 
began, a conflict of might and greed, to crush out the 
being of this young institution of the masses. 

The principle that is behind us, and which is the life of 
all Fraternal Beneficiary Societies, has so engrafted itself 
into our social being as to almost become a part of our 
national life, and to the wise and conservative course pur- 
sued and the intelligence and honesty of its management 
by the Royal Arcanum is this largely due. 

The Royal Arcanum has been most fortunate in its 
membership and signally successful in its management. 
Favoritism has never blinded the Supreme Council in its 
duty. Its officers have always been men of large affairs, 
broad-gauged and of good repute in their respective com- 
munities, who have brought to the discharge of their 
duties intelligence, experience, and, above all, a loyalty 
that amounts to devotion. Their thought and their char- 
acter are so interwoven through the fabric of our being 
that to eliminate them would be to tear down and destroy 
the structure itself. 

Our founders mapped out a broad and comprehensive 
plan, but the machinery that put it into operation, the 
forces that caused it to expand, the agencies that brought 
about needed alterations and reforms, as the exigen- 



2>6o THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

cies of the times and its affairs demanded, were largely 
the result of others' labors, the fruits of others' minds. 
And this has been the work of no one man, or of two, or 
three, but of many, through all the years of our Order's 
existence. But everywhere, in every undertaking, there 
are those strong natures, master minds, that shape the 
policy or do the moulding. I cannot picture in my mind, 
except as a skeleton or a weakling, a Royal Arcanum 
stripped of the results of the direct influences upon its 
legislation and its management by such men as John 
Haskell Butler and W. O. Robson, of Boston, Mass., and 
Smith M. Lindsley, of Utica, in our own State. 

There have been others, who, by their sterling quali- 
ties, have left the imprint of their individuality upon 
many of the shining pages of our Order's history. 

I would say, in conclusion, that we have a loyal mem- 
bership of capable men to whom the management of our 
Order may safely be entrusted. But its management in 
the future will be an easy task, indeed, as compared with 
that of our early days, when the Order was taking shape, 
when the parts were being adjusted and riveted and 
brazed into a perfect whole, into this great piece of 
mechanism, in which friction has been reduced to the 
minimum, and which now only requires the application 
of ordinary care and honesty for its successful operation. 



ROYAL ARCANUM 361 

AN ERA OF FRATERNALISM 
An Address* 

by walter allen rice 

While this is an era of patriotism, it is also an era of 
fraternalism, and the noble cause of Fraternity has never 
lacked defenders in every crisis of its history. To you, 
to me, and to every loyal and worthy citizen of this coun- 
try, home is the bright oasis in the great desert of life. 
As fathers and sons rallied around the flag in '61 and '98 
in defense of their country, so it is the duty of every man 
who has loved ones dependent upon him to enlist in the 
fraternal army for the protection of home. Home 
" brings to us responsibilities born of duty that can never 
be repudiated. Duty unperformed is dishonor, and dis- 
honor brings shame, which is heavier to carry than any 
burden which honor can impose." 

There are men, however, but they are rare, who refuse 
to meet these responsibilities. They live entirely for self ; 
they spend all their earnings from year to year; they 
make no provision for home, and fully realize that by 
their death they would leave their families dependent 
upon the cold charities of the world.* 

Rev. Dewitt Talmage has said : " Do not send for me 
to come and conduct the obsequies and read over such a 
carcass the beautiful liturgy, ' Blessed are the dead who 
die in the Lord/ for instead of that I will turn over the 
leaves of the Bible to First Timothy, 5th chapter, 18th 
verse, where it says, ' If any provide not for his own, and 
especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the 
faith, and is worse than an infidel/ " 

* Before the Royal Arcanum, Buffalo, N. Y. 



2>62 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

The system of fraternal protection is not a new and 
untried proposition; it has been severely tested by time 
and experience, and has proved to be the greatest and 
grandest institution ever devised for the masses of the 
people. It is of the people, for the people, and by the 
people. Could the roll-call be sounded to-day for a grand 
parade, more than 2,500,000 members would fall in line, 
while along the way over 5,000,000 wives and children, 
their beneficiaries, would join in singing: 

On, fraternal soldiers, 

Bear your banners high, 
In the name of loved ones 

" Forward ! " be the cry. 
Spread the joyful tidings, 

Way across the land, 
From Atlantic westward 

Till our country's spanned. 

Could we but look into the thousands of homes where 
the death angel has entered during the past thirty years, 
and talk with the bereaved families who have been the 
recipients of over $300,000,000, what songs of praise, 
what eloquent testimonials would be heard in behalf of 
the Fraternal Societies of this country! 



THE FUTURE OF FRATERNALISM 
An Address 

BY G. D. ELDRIDGE. 

The question of the permanence of self-governing 
organizations for the distribution to the beneficiaries of 
deceased members of stipulated sums, uncomplicated by 
the numerous collateral benefits which have attached 



ROYAL ARCANUM 3^3 

themselves to general life insurance, is the peculiar prob- 
lem to-day of the Fraternal Beneficiary Orders. 

Made up of an immense membership drawn from the 
living forces of American life ; possessed of the prestige 
due to the distribution of vast sums at a minimum ex- 
pense that attests the conscientiousness of the men who 
have been entrusted with the management of affairs; 
strong in the confidence born of personal participation in 
control and of general fidelity of administration, these 
orders enter with noteworthy advantages upon the work 
which has fallen to their lot. 

Equal, if not superior, to these is the advantage of free- 
dom from restricting statutory regulations which is left 
to them alone among American organizations charged 
with the power of doing what is essentially the protective 
work of legitimate life insurance. 

Upon the other side stands out the indisputable fact that 
the quasi benevolent features of fraternity have been 
assumed to remove the necessity for equity in cost distri- 
bution, resulting in a failure to recognize a portion of the 
liabilities involved in the granting of death benefits, until 
these great organizations find themselves at the point 
where these ignored liabilities begin to press for liquida- 
tion, yet possessed of a membership — as their sole 
resource for such liquidation — that has been taught that 
such liabilities do not actually exist. 

Thus two problems press upon the Fraternal Orders of 
the day — the problem of dealing with existing member- 
ship and liabilities, and the problem of perpetuation. To 
deal with either successfully demands full recognition of 
the principles which underlie the granting of beneficiary 
payments, and also preservation of the freedom of con- 
trol which to-day is secured by law to these organi- 
zations. 



364 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Water will not rise higher than its source; a distrib- 
uting agency is not a creator of resources ; an organiza- 
tion cannot disburse more than it receives. All of these 
statements are truisms — annoying, perhaps, in their repe- 
tition, and yet many a failure in life is traceable to the 
inability to see what is directly within the field of one's 
vision. Such blindness may escape fatality for a time 
through the operation of temporary conditions, but it is 
possible here as elsewhere to sin away the day of grace, 
and such a result is inevitable unless there is an awaken- 
ing to real conditions. The time has come when the fra- 
ternals must awake and deal with present conditions, or 
hand over to others the doing of the work which they 
have essayed to do, and which they, better than any other 
existing organizations, have the ability to do. For one, I 
believe that they will rise to the opportunity, solve the 
problems that confront them, and perpetuate the work 
they have begun. 

To do this, however, the supporters of Fraternalism 
must learn to deal with facts, not theories. They must 
recognize that when they assume obligations they must 
make provision for meeting them, and that when those 
obligations rest upon the maturing of a contingency of 
which the chances of maturing are perpetually increasing, 
the consideration to be paid must increase correspond- 
ingly, or by some device the increasing risk must be neu- 
tralized. The one alternative means increasing individual 
assessments ; the other means reservation. There is no 
escape from both horns of the dilemma. 

Increasing assessments mean that the member shall 
pay proportionately to the current risk. Reservation 
means that the increase of the future shall be provided for 
by an average payment. But an average payment is worse 
than useless if the individual present payments are con- 



ROYAL ARCANUM 3^5 

sumed to meet the collective present needs. So far as, by 
the averaging of cost, payments are collected in advance 
of their requirement to meet matured benefits, they must 
be held in hand to provide for the ultimate risk paid for 
in anticipation. That is, they must be reserved. 

If it is asked why there should be payment in advance 
of the requirement of matured risk, there is one answer, 
and one answer only, and that is, that to meet risk cur- 
rently as it matures into claims ultimately requires of the 
member a payment that is burdensome in amount and 
finally prohibitive. Theoretically, it provides as abso- 
lutely for all claims that will arise as can the average 
payment with reservation. Practically, the concession of 
cessation at some point in increasing payments must be 
made, and when that is made reservation, the anticipation 
of maturity of future risks through present excess pay- 
ment, and the reserving of such excess payment for future 
uses must be brought in. 

The Fraternities should aim to preserve: r 

i. Membership government. 

2. Freedom from statutory standards of reservation. 

3. The right to adjust payments to actual cost. 
They must add :• 

1. The adoption of a substantially correct standard of 
cost apportionment. 

2. The imperative requirement of advancing individual 
payments or proper reservation. 

3. Equity between members. 

These additions will not make the Fraternities old-line 
life insurance companies, but they will plant for them the 
seeds of perpetuity, and preserve them for the work that 
they have so well begun. They will do more than this ; 
"hey will prevent conditions - T -hich are becoming more 
imminent, that will ultimately impel the disappointed pub- 



366 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

lie to demand legislation that will present to the Frater- 
nities the alternative of becoming practically old-line com- 
panies or nothing. To-day one may scoff at the sugges- 
tion of the possibility of such legislation. A decade from 
to-day, unless the Fraternities use wisely the power that 
they have now in their hands, may see the opportunity 
sinned away, and the epitaph of a great beneficial move- 
ment written in the words, " It might have been ! " 



ROYAL ARCANUM 3^7 



THE FRATERNAL SPIRIT 

The history of the past is a gradual, but sure, evolution 
from wrong, ignorance, and oppression to civilization, 
liberty, and fraternity. This evolution has come through 
blood and carnage. From Nero to the Edict of Nantes, 
Christianity was strengthened by the blood of the mar- 
tyrs. The French Revolution, and the ringing words of 
Luther, enthroned the individual man and dethroned the 
despot. C8esar, the pagan, prepared the way for Chris- 
tianity; Charlemange, the barbarian, for civilization, and 
Napoleon, the bloody despot, for liberty. Truly, it has 
been a long and bloody road from the Nazarene, with His 
matchless teachings of the universal " Fatherhood of God 
and the Brotherhood of Man " to our present high civili- 
zation and fraternal spirit. This world can only be trans- 
formed from selfishness to brotherly love by the absolute 
recognition of the teachings of the Nazarene. The sub- 
lime mission of our Fraternities is to exalt the man and 
destroy the corporation or government that enslaves 
him. 

As we stand about our altars, pledged to care for and 
protect the rights of each individual, let us remember that, 
before God, all men are equal ; that our individual rights 
are never fully secured until the rights of our brothers 
are also made certain. The new century w T ill be glorious 
and helpful just in proportion as the fraternal spirit pre- 
dominates and controls. Our forefathers started right ; 
they vindicated the dignity of manhood ; they proclaimed 
that man was not made the property of man ; that human 
power must be a trust for human benefit, and that the 
violation of principles justified armed resistance if neces- 
sary. 



368 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Let us take into the new century the spirit of our 
Revolutionary fathers, only multiplied an hundred fold 
by the glorious results of the past century. /Exchange. 

TRUE FRATERNITY 
A Sermon* 

BY REV. W. A. BROADHURST. 

Fraternity springs from the Latin word " frater," 
meaning brother. As applied to a body of men, it means 
an organization held together by mutual regard and com- 
mon interests. No true fraternity can exist without the 
spirit of real brotherhood. True fraternity recognizes 
the law of combination..* There is no true fraternity when 
the tie that binds is mere artificial restraint such as oaths 
and passwords. There must be unity of heart, and a 
worthy, unselfish purpose. Love and sympathy hold men 
together as nothing else can. Men united by bonds of 
selfishness are always suspicious. Quality as well as 
quantity is essential to true fraternity. Members must 
have character that compels respect. True fraternity is 
successful when all members are true men. In such a 
fraternity all members partake of the same blessings. It 
is like the oil that was poured upon the priest's head and 
ran down over his whole person. In true fraternity there 
is no feeling of malice or hate. He who seeks to stir up- 
strife among classes is no friend of humanity. A true 
union among men regards men as men, and does not esti- 
mate a man by his property, but what he has of moral 
worth and character. A true fraternity must be consti- 
tuted by true men, 

* Before Norwalk Council, No. 403, of Ohio, in commemoration - 
of Royal Arcanum Day. 



ROYAL ARCANUM 369 

There is a selfish and an unselfish side to all fraterni- 
ties. The former seeks to benefit itself alone, the latter 
seeks to benefit not only itself, but others. An organiza- 
tion of clean and thoughtful men is delightful, and by it 
one cannot fail to be inspired to better things. The influ- 
ences are refining. A fraternity is not a true one that 
will admit a man to its ranks and then overlook him and 
let him shift for himself. The very help he receives makes 
him a stronger man. There are fraternities which serve 
only the purpose of the club. They do not look to the 
help or entertainment of any but the individual. The true 
fraternity ought to lend assistance to others. It looks to 
the interest of home. We are taught that the man who 
makes no provision for his wife and children is worse 
than an infidel. A man who neglects the future of his 
family is a man who is selfishly thinking about getting to 
heaven. A true fraternity looks to the future care of 
those loved ones. True fraternity is a builder. it cre- 
ates true manhood. It fosters the love of home, state, 
and church. It not only enjoys, but helps others to like 
enjoyment. It seeks to live the " Golden Rule," — " Do 
unto others as you would be done by." It remembers 
practically the royal law, — " Thou shalt love thy neighbor 
as thyself." 

Members of the Royal Arcanum, in seeking to analyze 
true fraternity it has been my purpose to give you a high 
ideal of your own Order. Your organization professedly 
involves the selfish and the unselfish sides of true frater- 
nity. But the selfish side is subordinated to the unselfish. 
Your chief, your high aim, is to help others help them- 
selves. The significance of your name ought to bear out 
my meaning. Royal Arcanum means " the kingly or 
illustrious secret mystery." 



37° THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

It means that the secret of your life and success is that 
open mystery of love upon which our Lord so earnestly 
dwelt and emphasized in His own person and death. 
Jesus Christ had the true fraternal spirit. 



FRATERNITY AND BUSINESS 

Both fraternity and good business principles are nec- 
essary to the greatest success of a fraternal beneficiary 
association. The absence of fraternity will impair the 
usefulness as well as the growth of the Order ; the absence 
of good business principles will not only impair, but ulti- 
mately destroy the Order. 

The fraternal feature unites the membership and forms 
them into a body in which there is less selfishness and 
more desire for the best interest of all, whether consid- 
ered collectively or individually. It is this feature that 
gives to each member the counsel and assistance of many 
others and makes the welfare of the one the concern of all. 
Through it the members form ties of friendship that con- 
tinue to assist and encourage throughout life. It is be- 
cause of this fraternal spirit that the sick are visited, the 
poor are assisted, and necessary aid and consolation are 
at hand in the sad hours of bereavement. 

But while fraternity is of so much importance, we must 
not forget that it alone cannot sustain the Order, and 
that it cannot dispense with good business principles ; that 
good business methods and proper attention to the busi- 
ness part are as necessary to the safety, the success, and 
the permanency of the Order as are such to the success 
of any other undertaking. Fraternity alone cannot make 
the collections, keep the books, nor pay the death losses. 



ROYAL ARCANUM 37 1 

It will not alone accomplish these things, any more than 
will sympathy alone clothe the poor and feed the hungry. 

There is such a thing as depending too much upon fra- 
ternity, and consequently paying too little attention to 
the business part. The fact that proper attention is at 
all times given to the business feature is no indication of 
the absence of fraternity. On the contrary, careful atten- 
tion to the business part will result in improvement and 
progress, and these encourage and strengthen the frater- 
nal feature. 

We sometimes hear of persons who think that business 
talks should not be indulged in, that business should be 
kept in the background, and only fraternity should be 
thought about, talked about, or considered; that to do 
otherwise will cause the people to think that the Order is 
only a cold-blooded business concern, and consequently 
not worthy of their support. That is a mistake. It does 
not give due credit to the intelligence of the people — it 
assumes that they know nothing about business, or the 
importance of good business methods in the affairs of life. 
Nor does it give the Order credit for being properly man- 
aged, but is rather an assumption that the Order is not 
founded upon business principles, and hence care must 
be taken not to discuss the business part. 

Beware of the Order that does not discuss its business 
part, but must confine its talk to the one part of frater- 
nity. The people know that a good business foundation 
and good business methods are necessary to the safety 
and permanency of the Order, and they want to hear 
something about the business feature. To act upon the 
theory that the business part should not be referred to is 
a confession of weakness. Do not do it. Let fraternity 
and business go hand in hand in your talk as well as in 
your acts. Moderno graph. 



37 2 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

THE CHURCH AND FRATERNITY* 

BY REV. GEORGE F. KENNGOTT, LOWELL, MASS. 

Of the many fraternal organizations there are none, 
perhaps, who stand for the principles which the church 
upholds. Those mystic letters of the Order, " V. M. C," 
the meaning of which I do not know, may well stand for 
" virtue, mercy, charity." Virtue is " the habitual 
sense of right " and is the greatest possession of mankind. 
Mercy is the true badge of true nobility. Charity is the 
crowning grace. It means love to God as well as to man. 
Here, indeed, is a trinity — virtue, mercy, charity — a royal 
arcanum. Well named is that organization which takes 
these as the cardinal virtues of its basis of life and 
activity. With these virtues as its foundation, and pro- 
vided they are followed out, the Order will live as long 
as these principles are followed. The Order provides for 
the support of widows and orphans, and performs num- 
berless, nameless acts of charity and mercy to those who 
are left behind. 

Your principles of morality are the "open sesame " to 
God's love and heaven. Morality and religion are in- 
separable, and your Order is founded on the spirit of 
Christ, as all orders of like nature are founded. 

I congratulate you on the work which your Order of 
the Royal Arcanum has done and is doing. You have 
done a great deal, you have shown virtue, mercy, and 
charity, and by these acts you have bound yourselves to 
the past and the future. Whether members of the church 
or not, you have taken as yours the motto, "I serve," 

* From a sermon before the members of Highland Council, 
R. A. 



ROYAL ARCANUM 373 

and in following out this you are doing nobly. May the 
blessing of God rest upon your Order and upon Highland 
Council, which you represent. 



DANGER OF FRATERNAL APATHY* 

BY DEPUTY SUPREME REGENT E. E. DOW, OF TOLEDO, OHIO 

True membership in a fraternal organization means 
that we must devote more or less of our time and ability, 
as well as our money, to our brethren, the same as good 
citizenship requires that we devote more or less attention 
to public affairs. 

Fraternity, or brotherly union, means co-operation, and 
co-operation in its broadest sense is one of the grandest 
words in the English language. What would the world 
be without fraternal' co-operation? No government — 
national, state, or municipal ; no society, religious, benevo- 
lent, fraternal, or organized for pleasure only — can endure 
a day without the principles embodied in fraternal co- 
operation. By thoroughly understanding fraternity and 
entering into complete co-operation is the only way in 
which we can hope to conserve our liberties, perpetuate 
free government, protect our families, and provide for our 
beneficiaries. /SNTo man can be a member of a fraternal 
organization in theory alone. Membership demands 
action. It has to deal with conditions. A man may pro- 
fess much love and admiration for virtue, mercy, and 
charity, but if he fails in actively supporting them, both by 
word and deed, he is but a sojourner, and is a dead weight 

*A paper read before the Grand Council of Minnesota, 
Royal Arcanum. 



374 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

to any organization to which he belongs that has for its 
foundation the principles referred to. The support of the 
Royal Arcanum consists not alone in the payment of 
assessments and dues. Money never made a fraternal 
society, nor has it ever, maintained one. Wealth may 
free us from many of the cares of life, but it cannot sever 
us from the duty we owe to mankind, nor bring to us 
that consciousness of divine approval, if we use it for no 
other purpose than for selfish ends. 

It is unfortunately true that too many of our members 
are apt to measure our organization by its insurance only, 
and forget that the fundamental principle of successful 
insurance is constant growth, and that each and every 
member is bound by a solemn oath, made in the presence 
of Almighty God and brethren of the Order, to try and 
induce acceptable persons to apply for membership. The ^' 
very moment this obligation is neglected we weaken our 
own foundation by just the amount that a consistent effort 
to redeem our pledge might add to the strength of the 
Order. Man should realize that the fraternal order to 
which he belongs is a personal charge of the highest 
nature, and one involving the gravest responsibility. If 
bad management exists in a Subordinate, Grand, or Su- 
preme Council, the individual members have none to 
blame but themselves, for in them alone is the remedy. 
They are the foundation of all legitimate power, the ulti- 
mate source of authority; they may make the Order 
successful, or may mar its usefulness. The Royal 
Arcanum never neglects its members, unless the members 
first neglect the Royal Arcanum. 

The reports and records plainly point to the fact that 
in those Councils which have suffered most from decay 
and inactivity a great portion of the members have been 
poorly versed in the fundamental principles of the Order, 



ROYAL ARCANUM 375 

or have been lax in the discharge of those duties which 
are demanded by the constitution and laws of the Order. 
No member has a right to criticise or bewail conditions 
which may exist in any Council unless he is willing to 
work as a consistent member should. To better those 
conditions let him ask himself if he has done his own 
duty before he laments the fact that others have failed in 
theirs, and let him be certain that he understands and 
appreciates the duties of membership in this Order. Few 
there are who perfectly understand the full sense of their 
obligation and their rights and privileges as members of 
the Royal Arcanum, although the subject is one to which 
everyone should devote careful study. They would 
then be capable of active and intelligent efforts, and 
would perceive the folly and unfaithfulness of depending 
upon someone else to do what is absolutely the duty of 
each one. They would then know to a certainty that 
fraternal insurance, like all things truly valuable, cannot 
be gained or kept without great effort, and that it does 
not long remain with the undeserving. 

Good Council meetings and increase in Council mem- 
bership are most desirable, but neither can be secured 
only by earnest and active patriotism. The strongest bul- 
wark of fraternity cannot endure if we permit co-operate 
apathy to pierce its walls and thus open the flood gates 
of inactivity and decay. 

The founders of our Order builded wiser than they 
knew, and secured for us an institution that is worthy of 
perpetuity. This being true, it is the duty of every mem- 
ber to work to that end. 

I wish, however, to impress upon you that the power 
and usefulness of the Royal Arcanum is not declining, it 
is increasing. I have tried to warn you that it is only our 
selfishness, it is only our indifference and neglect of duty 



37 6 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

which can ever constitute a real danger to our Order. If 
we can master these, no other foe can hurt us, " and many 
a year will come and go and many a generation will be 
gathered to the resting place of its fathers " before the 
Royal Arcanum, to which we belong and which we dearly 
love, need forfeit or lose its place as leader of the fra- 
ternal orders of the world. 

Although assailed from without by the well-paid 
agents of every form of life insurance known to man, I 
wish emphatically to state that we have no quarrel with 
the representatives of any other form of insurance. They 
have a place in the financial world as legitimate as that 
occupied by any other money-making scheme. 

A very eminent writer once wrote with reference to life 
insurance, " The vital principle of life insurance or pro- 
tection is co-operation, not for the production of wealth, 
but for the equalization of loss, and such co-operation can 
only be carried to its legitimate conclusion by fraternity." 
The Royal Arcanum is the outgrowth of this co-operative 
fraternal spirit, and, therefore, becomes popular when un- 
derstood. It has come to stay, assisting, wherever estab- 
lished, in promoting peace and prosperity. The man who 
is a member of a prosperous Council is one who is at 
peace with himself and the world. You will find in him 
the man who meets his obligations, unselfish in his family, 
kind to his neighbors, a good citizen in every sense of 
the word, and a leader in the community in which he lives. 
Compare this picture with a soulless corporation that 
requires of the insured $2 for every $1 paid out. The day 
is not far distant when the masses will awaken to the 
fact that their financial life-blood is being sapped by these 
old-line companies (foreign to fraternity), compared to 
which, in the accumulation of wealth, the national banks, 
trust companies, and mammoth commercial trusts are 



ROYAL ARCANUM 377 

mere infants; and so I repeat, we have no quarrel with 
them, but in the future, as in the past, we must continue 
to bear the choicest fruit in the orchard, and be content 
with having our branches filled with clubs, and the 
ground about the roots of our noble tree strewn with 
every variety of debris thrown by the jealous, well-paid 
agents of old-line companies, who are frantic to gather 
the rich, ripe fruit produced by the grandest fraternal 
Order known to man. 



VIRTUE, MERCY, AND CHARITY THE FOUN- 
DATION PRINCIPLES OF THE ROYAL 
ARCANUM 

An Address 

by wm. c. olmstead, lockport, n. y.* 

Let me call up before your mind's eye at the present 
time the monogram inscribed on our banner. At first 
glance it seems to be a confusion of letters. But, as I 
steadily gaze, the V stands out more prominently than all 
the rest, and I ask myself if the V is not the initial letter 
of a word which comprehends them all. We all know — ■ 
every man who comes into the Order is obliged to know — 
that the monogram stands for Virtue, Mercy, and Charity. 
Now, when we come to reflect, we find that Virtue em- 
braces both Mercy and Charity, for mercy and charity are 
virtues. I do not say that Virtue is the greatest word, 
for the Apostle has said : " And now abideth faith, hope, 
charity — these three ; but the greatest of these is charity." 

* Orator of Lockport Council, No. 307. 



37 8 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

But I find that Virtue is the most comprehensive word 
on our banner. Not in its every-day sense, which stops 
at chastity, but in that broad definition, which leads us 
into the realm of everything, organic and inorganic, in 
the universe. The mineral is the virtue of the earth. 
The clod is only a clod, while the diamond responds to 
the least ray of light, and tells in every movement of the 
glory of its Creator. And even in the clod there is virtue, 
for when it is loosened by the rain and warmed by the 
sun there comes from it the flower that blooms for all 
and the vegetable that gives life to mankind. The weed 
is looked upon as the representative of evil, but even in 
that there is virtue, which the chemist knows how to 
extract and turn into medicine for the ills of all flesh. 
It is virtue that runs in the sap through all the limbs and 
branches of the tree, and comes to our delighted eyes in 
the form of buds and leaves in the spring-time. All 
nature, animate and inanimate, draws virtue from the 
sun. For virtue is power, energy, efficacy to act and to 
accomplish the best that is within the range of all God's 
creatures. Two trees stand side by side. One of them 
is leafless, and points its ghost-like limbs out in dreary 
relief against the sky. It is deserted even by the birds — 
save the crow, that sits on a bare bough and caws dis- 
mally of failure. The other is covered with foliage, cast- 
ing refreshing shade on the greensward, and its boughs 
are musical with bird songs. Which is the virtuous 
tree? 

Two men stand side by side in the Council room of 
the Royal Arcanum. One has shed all his enthusiasm 
in the work and destiny of the Order; never sings its 
praises ; seldom comes to its meetings ; only stands there 
waiting for Father Time to cut him down, so that the 
only person on earth whom he loves may get the benefit 



ROYAL ARCANUM 379 

of his death. The other man realizes the principle of 
fellowship which is a strong element in the Order ; he 
is regularly at his post in the Council room, and is am- 
bitious to rise from one station to another on its official 
list ; he remembers the faces of those he meets at the 
regular gatherings, and recognizes them as members of 
the Order when he sees them on the street ; he carries the 
monogram, " V. M. C." on his heart, and is in no hurry 
for the insurance money. Which is the virtuous brother ? 
But the thought goes farther still. In the Middle Ages, 
which we are in the habit of looking back at as a time 
when people were somewhat slow compared with our- 
selves, such things as the V. M. C. on our banner were 
not kept hidden in secret lodge rooms, as great mysteries 
which were too sacred for display, but were painted on 
the walls and ceilings and wrought into the architecture 
of public buildings. In that way eight female figures, 
called caryatides, were carved in stone as pillars to sup- 
port the entablatures of temples. They represented the 
four cardinal virtues — Power, Prudence, Temperance, 
and Justice — and the three virtues of the x\postle — Faith, 
Hope, and Charity — to which was added the fourth — 
Obedience. The last four were called Theological vir- 
tues. As these symbolical pillars supported the super- 
structure of the building, so the elements of personal 
character which they represented sustained the State and 
the Church and every order and society within the State 
and Church. This, at all events, was their significance 
then, and this is their significance to-day, to every mem- 
ber of this benevolent Order. Power is that united force 
which we have, as a society, to do good to all men, but 
especially unto those who are of our Order. Prudence 
is that foresight which lies at the bottom of our organiza- 
tion, and which leads us to provide for the future of our 



3B0 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

families. Temperance is that rule of action by which we 
must guide our conduct if we are to remain worthy of the 
benefits of the Royal Arcanum. Justice is that treatment 
of our fellow-men — especially our brethren in V. M. C. — 
known as doing unto others as we would they should do 
unto us. Faith is that belief in the unseen — that belief 
in our fellow-men, as well as in the spiritual promises of 
the Gospel, which gives us courage to persevere, and to 
live our life as though it were worth living, and do our 
work as though it were worth doing. Hope is the 
thought which buoys us up — 

" Hope springs eternal in the human breast ; 
Man never is, but always to be, blest." 

Charity is that virtue which the Apostle wrote was 
greatest of all, and which Professor Drummond has de- 
fined as Love. There is no virtue so well exemplified in 
our Order as Charity, or Love. It is the foundation and 
the capstone of our organization. Obedience, the virtue 
we mention the last of all, is the one which is put before 
us the first of all when we enter the Order. Before we 
are clothed with the badge of the Royal Arcanum we 
must agree to support the constitution and by-laws 
thereof. Obedience is the cement which holds us to- 
gether and makes us a temple fit to endure. 

This, I take it, is the lesson to be read from our banner. 
The few thoughts I have touched upon may be extended 
and developed almost indefinitely according to the tenor 
of mind of the member who looks at it. But it is a good 
thing for us all to remember that symbols are histories 
and poems in short-hand, which we read with interest in 
accordance with the degree of enthusiasm we entertain for 
the stories they tell. Men have died on the battlefield 
for a symbol — the Flag. Men have burned at the stake 
for a symbol — the Cross. 



ROYAL ARCANUM 3 s r 

THE MODERN SPIRIT OF BROTHERHOOD AND 
THE ROYAL ARCANUM* 

BY REV. MITCHELL BRONK, OF BAYONNE, N. J, 

Old-fashioned charity, that gave indiscriminately and 
helped men into helplessness, is passing away. The funda- 
mental principle of modern benevolence is that men shall 
be taught and encouraged to help themselves. I know 
no better concrete illustration of this than what we term 
insurance. We say to our neighbor, If your house burns 
down, why, we will do all we can to help you find a new 
home ; but a better way is for you to co-operate with us 
in your helping by contributing to a common fund out of 
which any of us may be helped in case of need. Or — 
because a man's family are a part of himself — if you die, 
and your wife and children are destitute, we will come 
to their relief; but wouldn't it be wiser for you to care 
for them, or insure their care, in advance of your de- 
cease, by joining with us in an insurance fund? This 
is the meaning of insurance according to the Royal 
Arcanum. There is no lottery about it, there is no specu- 
lation about it, it is not selfish ; it is mutual helpfulness ; 
it is wise charity; it is a practical, businesslike applica- 
tion of one of the important teachings of Christ's Gospel 
to the needs of every-day life and modern conditions of 
society. 

Insurance carries with it these secondary blessings. 
Every time that a man makes a payment into one of its 
treasuries, no matter how thoughtless he may be, he 
cannot forget that he is helping others, and that realiza- 
tion is good for any man. Life insurance teaches self- 

* From a sermon preached before Bayonne Council, No. 695. 



382 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

sacrifice. To most men it means a denial of self for the 
sake of others ; and self-sacrifice is the virtue above all 
others that makes us noble and godlike. 

The spirit of modern fraternity manifests itself in the 
way in which men get together, in the organization that 
marks so emphatically our contemporary life. This is an 
outgrowth of that spirit of brother love that Jesus Christ 
taught. Every such organization, whether it be a great 
fraternity or a little club, whether it be secret or open, 
whether it be religious or social or industrial or political 
or benevolent, teaches men to know each other better, to 
be broad-minded and helpful and unselfish. In mountain 
climbing men fasten themselves together, so that if one 
slips or falls his union to the others shall save him from 
certain death and an icy grave. Life for us is a moun- 
tain journey, often dizzy and dangerous, and it is well 
for us to be bound by the ties of organized fraternity, 
that the weak may be helped by the strong, that those 
who stand may rescue those who fall. 

The Royal Arcanum is an expression, an actual, con- 
crete, lively, beautiful realization of this modern spirit of 
brotherhood ; and, therefore, I regard it as an integral, 
component part of the Kingdom of Christ in the world; 
and, therefore, I give it my commendation and support. 



ROYAL ARCANUM AND THE ROYAL LAW 

From an Address 

by rev. arthur s. burrows, worcester, mass. 

The Royal Arcanum, founded upon express belief in 
Almighty God, is ever progressing under the divine 
principles of Virtue, Mercy, and Charity. We cannot 



ROYAL ARCANUM 3 8 3 

fail in benevolence among our constantly increasing and 
beloved Order. Virtue within us means Mercy from us. 
Endowments of tongues, and knowledge of mysteries, 
and gifts of prophecies, are alone like the clangor of the 
brazen cymbals in the worship of the Egyptian Isis. 
Endued with the power of Love, endowment is the heart 
of sympathy, the hand of brotherhood, and the deed of 
blessing. Virtue touches God. Mercy touches man. 
Charity glorifies both heaven and earth. Our temporal 
service is merely commercial if devoid of the vital con- 
sciousness of the principles of our Order when we are in 
action. Each Council is to enjoy the heart of Virtue. 
Each meeting is to be comforted with the experience of 
Mercy. Each deed of Charity is meant to enlarge and 
beautify the character of each brother. Virtue means 
attendance upon the Order. Mercy means fellowship 
with officers and committees in their arduous work. 
Charity means not only the payment of the protection of 
a departed brother's home, but it means also the friendly 
call, with tender sympathy, and the continuance of never- 
failing kindnesses for the brother's sake. The Royal 
Arcanum has an avowed educational responsibility — "to 
uplift men morally, to surround them with good in- 
fluences, to keep before them the responsibilities growing 
out of their relation to each other and their relation to 
God, our common Father." Each brother is bound by 
solemn agreement to this platform, " upon which all may 
unite in pursuance of the beneficent purposes of the 
Order." Virtue is the strong arm. Mercy is that strong 
arm stretched forth. Charity is that strong arm's saving 
evidence. May we increase in Virtue, Mercy, and 
Charity, and we shall obtain the promise of God in the 
blessing of mankind. He is truly blessed who is a 
blessing. 



384 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

LAW OF PROTECTION* 

BY REV. ROBERT E. FARRIER. 

We are all protectionists. Perhaps not in the true 
political form ; but yet protectionists. Protection is a law 
of God's gracious provision and providence. We see 
it manifest in nature and in life. 

If we look at the human body we see the law is 
observed throughout its parts. How wonderfully has 
God protected the delicate organ of sight! He has set 
it deep in a wall of bone, guarding it on every side. Pie 
has curtained it in front to protect it from dust or light 
or injury. The projecting and hirsute brow, with its 
under shutters of lashes, prevents even a drop to disturb 
the sight. The wonderful lenses within, with their deli- 
cate mechanism, adjust the organ of sight to the changes 
of light and darkness, and furnish us with a strong illus- 
tration of the gracious law of protection. 

The same law may be observed in the organ of hearing. 
The delicate parts of this organ are all deeply imbedded 
in the bony part of the head, where they are protected 
from the ordinary dangers of the daily life. 

The brain has its thick wall to encase it, and over this 
is the hair to give it added protection. 

Man has observed this law of protection for his body 
and has added other means of protection, according to 
his wisdom and requirements, to fit him for the climate 
and circumstances of his daily life. The sheep grazing 
on the Persian plains, the silkworm spinning in the 
groves of Italy, the seal delighting in the Alaskan 
waters — the looms of all the world — these all contribute 
to the protection of the human body from the ex- 

* From an address at installation of Poughkeepsie Council, 
No. 391, 



ROYAL ARCANUM 3^5 

posure to danger and from the frosty air of this our 
climate. 

But man goes still further in this law of protection. 
He provides a tent of skin to keep off the drifting storm 
or scorching heat. Then he learns to build that which is 
more durable, and which will keep out the roaming beast, 
and builds his hut of mud. Then logs are added with 
the mud, and he has the log house with its thatched roof. 
This is soon set aside for the more graceful, imposing, and 
convenient house of board and beam. And this in turn 
is supplanted by the more enduring marble mansion, with 
its slated roof and mosaic floor. These abodes he pro- 
tects without by means of doors and fences and watch- 
ers; from within with alarms against burglars, telephone 
connection for police or fire department — all that he may 
be protected. 

If you will consider the subject you will see that this 
law of protection is seen in every occupation of life. 
The merchant needs the doubly secure iron safe to hold 
his wealth over night. The farmer does not need to 
mark his vines with the sign, " watermelons," or his 
loaded trees, " peaches " — they are scented from afar. 
You see the boy going on the baseball grounds and 
he is a system of protection. A mask is over his face; 
a shield on his chest; padded gloves on his hands, and 
spikes in his shoes. On the football grounds, if he is 
not so thoroughly protected when he goes on that you 
would scarce recognize his identity, he will come off the 
field in an unrecognizable condition. Protection is a 
recognized necessity by everyone. 

This same law of protection is seen in the animal life. 
God has. given to every creature the necessary w r isdom or 
instinct for its protection. The fly has a thousand ©yes* 
that it can see danger approaching from any direction 



386 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

and make its escape. The bee has its sting. The beast 
of prey has its sharpened tooth and elongated claw. 
The fish that is pursued by a thousand enemies in the 
sea is given the rapid flight, or, if slow of move- 
ment, it has protection in the spiney surface so un- 
pleasant for its opponent's mastication and digestion. 
The cuttlefish is protected by its inky discharge whereby 
it hides itself in the darkened waters from the eye of its 
pursuer. The deer has its horn to protect against its 
invader and the fleet foot against its pursuer. The bird 
has its pinion whereby it hides itself among the clouds. 
The beetle crushes its enemy with its strong mandibles. 
The insect carries its poison that it may be feared. The 
very worm that you crush by your step will turn to bite 
the foot that crushes it. 

It is this law of protection that calls for so many pro- 
fessional men. The lawyer is needed to protect man 
against the frauds and assaults of his fellows. The police- 
man is needed to protect life and property against the 
lawless. The teacher to protect the indvidual and the 
country against the shame and weakness of ignorance. 
The physician to protect against the inroads of disease 
and death. The clergyman is needed to protect the 
thoughtless and careless against the danger of neglect and 
violation of holy laws. 

Man is always seeking to protect himself from all that 
opposes his onward progress or destroys his highest fac- 
ulties. He is taught to pray that he may have the pro- 
tection of the eye that never slumbers and the arm that 
is never shortened. 

Man sees this gracious protection of the lovely Father 
and is led in love to seek the protection of others. Love 
always -seeks to protect its beloved. No sacrifice is too 
great, no task* too difficult that the loved one may not 



ROYAL ARCANUM 3^7 

have the highest protection that the lover can assure. 
The husband will seek to protect the wife whom he has 
pledged in love to keep. The children who call him 
father deserve the protection of him who has always had 
and hopes to receive the protection of the Father of all 
mercy. God is always a protector of man. Protection 
is an expression of divine love to humanity. He is ever 
seeking to protect us from sin, and keep us into eternal 
life even to the everlasting mansions prepared for those 
who love him. This principle of protection is right and 
just and noble. 

It is said that a celebrated sculptor worked well into 
the night to complete a masterpiece of statuary. When 
finished he beheld his work with admiration, for it stood 
forth lifelike and like the gods in symmetry and grace. 
But that night was chill and cold. He felt the frost in 
the room. He knew there was dampness in the figure, 
and realized that the moisture might freeze and break the 
statue. So he took his cloak from off his shoulders and 
the blanket from off his bed and wrapped them around 
the figure to keep out the frost. Then he lay down on 
his pallet to sleep. When his friends came to seek him 
they found him lying on his cot cold in death. His 
statue was wrapped and well preserved. 

Let us feel assured, friends, that though it may be a 
sacrifice sometimes to put aside the amount of our dues 
for the protection of our widows and children, when we 
come to sleep our sleep our neighbors will find that our 
loved ones are not altogether naked to the cold and 
dreary night; but they will find that the wife we have 
placed where she is, and the children whom we have 
brought into life, will -have at least this protection. It 
is a noble provision, a manly forethought, a loving pro- 
tection. - ~ ,..-. 



388 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

THE FRATERNAL SYSTEM 

An Address 

by joseph a. langfitt, supreme regent of the royal 

arcanum and vice president of the national 

fraternal congress 

The age of miracles is past, but wonders have not 
ceased. The rise and progress of the great fraternal 
beneficiary system during the last four decades afford a 
notable and conspicuous instance where the borders of 
wonderland have been reached. 

While historians are delving into the dim past search- 
ing out the origin of fraternal help, and the actuaries 
are endeavoring to agree upon " a basis of calculation 
that will be mathematically and scientifically correct," it 
is interesting to a quiet observer to simply contemplate 
the system as it is, what it has done, and some of its 
possibilities for the future. 

The fraternal system, as recognized to-day, includes the 
insurance or protective feature. Pure fraternities with- 
out this feature scarcely constitute a system, so that all 
men of ordinary information know that there is coupled 
with all the great modern fraternities, along with broth- 
erly comfort and sympathy, a feature of practical help in 
times of sickness and distress, a safe and substantial pro- 
tection to the family whose bread-winner has laid down 
the burden of life ; a financial support which is the fruit 
of co-operation plucked by the hand of Fraternity and left 
in the lap of the stricken wife or mother in the hour of 
her sorrowing; a rift in the cloud of care, a rainbow in 
the darkened sky — a very present help for her and the 
little ones against the cares and woes of life. 



ROYAL ARCANUM 389 

Not many years ago this system, combining finance and 
fraternity, business and benevolence, was unknown. It 
was born amid the bursting lights of the last half century. 
Like the Alpine flower that leans its cheek against the 
bosom of the eternal snows, the Fraternals timidly crept 
forth amid the cold and barren peaks of old-time life 
insurance. They were unlike Free Masonry. They 
were unlike insurance companies, but they had the prac- 
tical advantages of both. They were at first tolerated 
as too insignificant to be noticed more than casually. 
Later on they began to assume proportions that threatened 
to give serious opposition to old-liners. They became 
popular with the masses. They furnished protection at 
cost — below cost, in fact, as afterward appeared. Their 
rapid growth was in the nature of a tidal wave of pro- 
test against the extortion and robbery of the old-line 
companies. They were guided and controlled by the 
spirit of brotherly help — by a fraternity that nurses the 
sick, lifts the low, binds the broken. They were un- 
selfish, united, co-operative. They realized that the old- 
line companies were conceived, organized, and managed 
on purely selfish lines, and thoughtful men, therefore, 
convinced of this, began to prefer the Fraternals, remem- 
bering that selfishness is never fair, never generous— 
that selfishness made all the difference between Lucifer 
and the Archangel of God. 

They soon began to have imitators, societies with pirati- 
cal instincts, run by selfish and unscrupulous men, and 
masquerading as fraternal beneficiary societies, under 
catchy names, in order to entrap the unwary and the way- 
faring man. 

This was a serious handicap, but time, that tries all 
things in its crucible, tries them, and works them pure or 
else discloses them to be dross and worthless, relieved the 



39° THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Fraternals of this incubus. The courts gave short shrift 
to the spurious concerns, and the upward climb of the 
Fraternals received scarcely a perceptible check. 

About this time it became apparent to the old-line com- 
panies that a formidable competitor had arisen, and was 
in the field, with no quarter asked, and forthwith the flood- 
gates were opened and the most bitter and virulent 
attacks were poured upon the Fraternals, and these 
attacks have continued with unabated fury down to the 
present. 

These assaults were of three classes : 

(i). Those based on defects of our system that re- 
quired correction. 

(2). Those based on statements half true and half 
false. 

(3). Those built on pure imagination, without refer- 
ence to truth or fact. 

Of these classes the latter recoil on the heads of the 
inventors, the second class occasionally work temporary 
harm, while the first class inures greatly to our benefit — 
shows where we may be weak, and so enables us to repair 
the defect. 

The last ten years have accomplished wonders for the 
Fraternals in this regard. The laws have been revised. 
The courts have given rulings that serve for guidance — 
the looseness in organization has been remedied. The 
best financial, professional, and business talent has shone 
forth in their management, and the preparation and pres- 
ervation of their statistics have obtained for a sufficient 
period to enable them to compute with accuracy and pre- 
cision their mortality costs under all conditions. 

This is invaluable, because the most persistent and tell- 
ing criticism has been upon the rates charged for the 
protection afforded. Members of the Fraternals have 



ROYAL ARCANUM 391 

been slower to admit the force and truth of this criticism 
than any other. It must appear, however, upon the most 
casual examination, that the rates upon which the Frater- 
nals began business were totally inadequate to carry them 
along, even with their enormous influx of new blood, 
beyond a limited period; that advancing age means, and 
always meant, advancing or increasing cost of protection, 
and that a member must each year pay an increased 
amount above that paid the preceding year, or, if this 
payment is to remain the same as at entry into the Order, 
then must it in early years be much larger than is required 
to meet current cost, so that the surplus and its accre- 
tions may make up the deficiency of the later years. 
Those who refuse to admit this, and urge because a 
society has, during its existence, paid all matured claims 
with inadequate rates, that it can continue indefinitely so 
to do, are " simply drinking delusion out of the empty 
skull of the past." 

The first few years of a society furnish no data from 
which the mortality cost may be calculated, because the 
members are all comparatively fresh from their medical 
examinations. Later on, however, the inexorable laws 
of mortality assert themselves, and the death rate and 
consequent cost of protection steadily rises until its maxi- 
mum is reached. Such rates must, therefore, be adopted 
as will provide that the aggregate receipts shall always 
equal the probable liabilities ; otherwise we shall find that 
our curve is a parabola whose arcs will never meet. 

Those who first established the Fraternal Orders could 
not provide a scientific and accurate scale of assessments, 
because they had no vital statistics, but the time and the 
means to do this are now present. Outside the question 
of rates, there is not a cloud in the Fraternal sky. 
Thoughtful men realize that the recoil from exorbitant 



392 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

charges of old-line companies, which led to the founda- 
tion of the Fraternals, caused the pendulum to swing too 
far in the direction of cheapness. The equilibrium be- 
tween the amount needed to perpetuate the society and 
the amount collected for that purpose must be restored. 
Economy is not so much the focal center as stability. The 
system has all the essentials of perpetuity. There is a 
place of it — a popular demand. It fills a want. It has 
safe, honest, and conservative management. Its basic 
principles are sound. Let it but regulate the charges .for 
protection furnished to meet actual and probable cost, 
and the last obstacle will be removed from its pathway. 
The next five years, in all human probability, will show 
that this difficulty or problem has been successfully con- 
quered and solved, and the Fraternals will continue to 
grow and prosper until they become 

" Mightiest of the mighty means 

On which the world of Progress leans." 

As they stand to-day they are unrivaled. Ancient fra- 
ternities which do not have the protective feature are not 
competitors. Old-line companies which have somewhat 
outgrown the formative stage have been compelled to 
yield the palm for magnitude of operations, honest man- 
agement, and popularity. Out of 850 legal reserve, com- 
panies formed in the last half century there have been 
789 funerals, and the mourners still go about the streets, 
refusing to be comforted. 

This trouble happened largely during the formative 
stage of the old-line system, and those companies remain- 
ing, comprising about six percentum of the total, are not 
likely to fail unless through dishonesty of their officers. 

The formative stage of the Fraternals has been passed 
with infinitely less disaster, and to-day they are in the 



ROYAL ARCANUM 393 

full tide of successful experiment. Their purpose to give 
insurance at cost has never varied, and all that is yet 
required is to increase the amount charged so as to 
remedy the result of miscalculation that, at the time of 
their formation, could not be made exact. 

Reasonable men are willing to pay that actual cost. 
The man who wants protection without paying for it 
what is justly due is in the last stage of selfishness. 

Let it once be clearly established in the societies that 
there is (i) certainty as to amount the beneficiary will 
receive, (2) certainty as to amount the member will be 
required to pay based on actual cost of protection, and 
(3) honest and conservative management, and no one 
will be, or ought to be, unwilling to pay his fair, full 
share of the cost. Why should he be? By this means 
he becomes part and parcel of a great co-operative 
philanthropy, providing riches for the poor, protection 
for his home, and sympathy and substance for his breth- 
ren and their families. He is thus enabled to increase 
the sum of human happiness and diminish human misery 
— to do something for society — something for humanity. 

The coral insect builds in darkness and ignorance, and 
in company with millions of its kind raises the rock be- 
yond the waves by patient, persevering labor. And so 
the great fraternal beneficiary system has been built up 
by the love, enthusiasm, and united efforts of those who 
compose it, until to-day its arms reach out to embrace 
4,000,000 members, composing, with their families, 20,- 
000,000 souls. These societies have paid out to benefi- 
ciaries nearly $600,000,000. They represent $5,000,000,- 
000 of fraternal insurance, and, with its members all 
standing shoulder to shoulder in defense of the great, 
grand principles for which it stands, the fraternal system, 
strong as coral reef, has built above the troubled waters 



394 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

its towering Gibraltar of Protection, against which all 
the waves of calumny and prejudice shall lash themselves 
in vain. Royal Arcanum Bulletin, 



INSTALLATION ADDRESS 

BY J. S. CAPEN, UPON HIS INSTALLATION.* 

The dawn of a new century finds the Royal Arcanum 
one of the great forces for good of which the 19th cen- 
tury was so prolific, and the heritage transmitted to us 
who take up the work where that famous century left it 
will call for earnest work and strong endeavor if we hold 
our beloved Fraternity up to the high ideal to which it 
has been brought. To improve upon any of the great 
problems that were solved then seems to us almost an 
absurd impossibility, still — looking at it in the light of 
history and past achievement — the incentive to try is not 
without encouragement, and we shall not be living up to 
our opportunities if we shall not be able to make some 
little advancement over even the splendid history of that 
— the grandest century since time began. 

That our predecessors at the opening of the 19th cen- 
tury stood looking at almost as discouraging an outlook 
for bettering the history of the 18th, is at once apparent 
to us when we look at some of the happenings of that 
time. 

Watt had perfected the steam engine until it seemed 
as though it could go no further. Napoleon was at the 
height of his wonderful career. Vaccination seemed 
about to sweep one of the greatest blights with which 
people had to contend from the earth, and Monarchism 
had received a body blow from which it "has never recov- 

* As Regent of Star Council, No. 89, of Detroit, Mich. 



ROYAL ARCANUM 395 

ered in the birth of our own grand country. Not giving 
the discouragements — which must have seemed almost 
insurmountable — any thought, our forefathers pressed on, 
and their achievements during the next one hundred 
years dwarfed all previous history and handed over to us 
the splendid record. 

They received the horse — -they bequeathed us the bicy- 
cle, the locomotive, and the motor car. 

They received ordinary writing — they bequeathed to us 
the typewriter. 

They received the scythe — they bequeathed us the 
mowing machine. 

They received the painted canvas — they bequeathed us 
lithography, photography, and color photography. 

They received the hand printing press — they be- 
queathed to us the cylinder press. 

They received the hand loom — they bequeathed to us 
the cotton and woolen factory. 

They received gunpowder — they bequeathed to us 
lyddite. 

They received the tallow dip — they bequeathed to us 
the electric lamp. 

They received the flintlock — they bequeathed to us 
Maxims. 

They received the sailing ship — they bequeathed to us 
the steamship. 

They received the beacon signal fire — they bequeathed 
to us the telephone and wireless telegraphy. 

They received ordinary light — they bequeathed to us 
Roentgen rays. 

Their labor was largely performed by the slave or bond- 
man. They freed the slave and handed over to us the 
most intelligent and independent workingman the world 
has ever seen. 



396 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

For the widows and orphans of our ancestors there 
was only the cheerlessness of the workhouse. For our 
widows and orphans they provided life insurance in its 
various forms, reaching the zenith — as we think — in our 
own noble Order. 

That one should feel gratified and flattered by an elec- 
tion to the highest office in the gift of one of the largest 
Councils in this, the crowning achievement of the last 
century in the way of providing for the welfare of loved 
ones, is only natural. 

I look upon being an officer in this kind of an institu- 
tion as an honor of no mean proportions. Unlike him 
whom our country has just called to its highest office, 
we have no insurrections to suppress, no people whom 
we must threaten — perhaps fight — to obtain justice for 
wrongs inflicted on our citizens, no political or diplomatic 
intrigues by which we must uphold the honor and dignity 
of our country. 

Unlike him Avhom we have just called to the 
Chief Executive of our State, we have no burdens of 
taxation to execute against an unwilling people. The 
fates of murderers and criminals are not in our hands, 
nor do the petitions for mercy from the heart-broken 
mother or wife for the wayward son or husband, follow 
us as a nightmare to our quiet homes. 

Unlike him whom we have just selected as the Chief 
Executive officer of our country, we have no writs of 
ejectment to serve, no felons to carry handcuffed to an 
incarceration worse than death. Unlike all who are 
elected to the various political offices, ours is not the task 
either of making or of executing laws which — however 
good and just — work hardships in so many cases. No, 
ours the pleasant task of keeping the necessary machinery 
in motion which shall hold out to the widows and orphans 



ROYAL ARCANUM 397 

of our brothers the hand of sympathy and substantial aid 
in the hours of their need. Ours to cause the mother to 
look up through blinding tears from the deathbed of her 
loved one as she feels that the noble boy by her side will 
not be obliged to leave school, now that her support is 
taken from her, but can keep on in the way he has chosen,* 
perfecting himself as her mainstay and the support of her 
declining years. Ours to place in her hands the means 
by which she may laugh at the sheriff as she pays the 
mortgage on her little home, or smile at the threats of the 
tax-collector as she files away her tax receipt. Ours to 
carry hope and comfort to the sickbed. Ours to relieve 
the dying of their apprehensions for the future of their 
loved ones. Ours to smooth the pillow of pain, to bid 
the weary watcher hope, to say to the departing one — 
" Fear not, your dear ones shall be cared for, and the fruits 
of your kindly care for your brothers during your life 
shall be returned to your home, which you are so soon to 
leave, an hundred fold." Looking at it this way, and ap- 
preciating that with its responsibilities and duties come 
also its chances for doing good and the bettering of our- 
selves, while striving to the measure of our ability to do 
good to others by advancing the interests of the Royal 
Arcanum, I can truly say that I appreciate the honor, that 
I shall do my best to merit it, and that I thank you, each 
and every one, for it. 



39^ THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

ADDRESS OF WELCOME* 

BY HIS HONOR FITZHUGH HALL, MAYOR OF ROCHESTER. 

Mr. Chairman, Grand Regent, and Members of the Royal 
Arcanum: 

You have come here from all parts of the State to join 
in this twenty-fourth annual meeting of the Grand Coun- 
cil of the Royal Arcanum of the State of New York, and 
you will be called upon as delegates to deliberate and act 
upon important matters for an organization which repre- 
sents a membership of nearly a quarter of a million, has 
paid on matured policies during the past year over six 
and a half millions of dollars, and has resources above all 
liabilities of over two millions of dollars. 

On the 23d of June you will celebrate the twenty-fifth 
birthday of this organization, which, during its successful 
career, has passed through the storm and stress period of 
its existence, and has grown to vigorous proportions, 
higher in the character and personnel of its membership, 
stronger in numbers, thriftier in its methods, and wealth- 
ier in its resources, firmer in its adherence to the princi- 
ples of Royal Arcanum, and greater and better in every 
way. 

Such development as the Royal Arcanum has enjoyed 
must have a substantial basis, and it is to be found in the 
principles underlying your organization, the exemplifi- 
cation of which draws its members closer to each other, 
brings them together in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and 
in health, leads them to the bedside of their fellows, and 
brings to the tender and helpless ones left behind new 
life and strength like refreshing rain to drooping flowers. 

Such an organization as yours would be welcome to 

* To the Grand Council of New York, 1902, 



ROYAL ARCANUM 399 

any city. I extend to you the hand of greeting, and wish 
you a successful and profitable meeting. I congratulate 
you upon the success of your organization during the 
quarter of a century of its existence, and upon the bright 
and prosperous future that lies before it. I trust that 
your deliberations may be for the highest good of the 
Order, and that you may leave our city with the pleas- 
antest recollections of the hospitality of our people, and 
of the profitableness to your organizations of your 
convention. 

I bid you thrice welcome, and extend to you the free- 
dom of the city. 



400 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

FELLOWSHIP 
A Sermon* 

" He that maketh many friends doeth it to his own destruction ; 
but there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." — Prov. 
xviii. 24. 

In all ages — since history records the aspirations of 
men, their efforts along different lines of endeavor, their 
accomplishments and conclusions — a definition compre- 
hensive enough to embrace the full meaning of Friend- 
ship or Fellowship has been sought after, alike by pagan 
and Christian, learned and unlearned. 

Seneca, the stoic, urged, " If you wish to gain affec- 
tion, bestow it," while Ovid added his poetic senti- 
ment to the philosopher's convictions, " The way to be 
loved is to be lovely." 

Emerson blended both in a sentence, " The only way 
to have a friend is to be one." 

The Bible, however, does not amuse with sparkling 
epigrams when it can better instruct by profound prin- 
ciples. 

As a fact, we do not find this choice suggestion con- 
cerning active friendship, or fellowship, implied in the 
Golden Rule. There is a longing for kindly favor in most 
hearts, and the Golden Rule would suggest that such 
favor be secured by guarding our way, step by step, by 
being kind and friendly, and thus show ourselves worthy 
of " fellowship." 

* By Rev. Noah E. Yeiser, pastor English Lutheran Church of 
the Redeemer, North Troy, N. Y., Chaplain Premier Council, 
R. A., North Troy. 



ROYAL ARCANUM 4 01 

Following out this clew to fellowship, we find numerous 
passages in the Bible which give valuable suggestions 
and deep meaning : as, " A companion of fools shall 
sweat for it," " A companion of harlots wasteth his sub- 
stance," " Make no friendship with an angry man, and 
with a wrathful man thou shalt not go." 

The word translated friends, in the text, means to de- 
light in, to have mutual delight. It is the same word used 
to show the attachment of Jacob and Joseph, Jonathan 
and David. It may, consequently, be viewed in the light 
of companions. But here, too, we find a word of warn- 
ing : "A man of companions breaks himself up, but there 
is a Friend more attached than a brother." 

The meaning, in all these cases cited, is, to suggest a 
true basis for friendship. And it indicates that such can 
only exist where both are true and upright. Otherwise, 
the results must be disappointing and disastrous. 

In order to avoid disaster certain safeguards may be 
of value, and certain fundamentals are suggested, which 
declare that more than mere natural endowments are 
necessary to true " fellowship." 

In the one case a man is a mere passive tool in the 
hands of the foolish and wicked. 

In the other he is an active agent, gracious, cordial, 
and just, the hearty friend, the worthy companion. 

First, The Safeguards : As the lighthouse suggests 
and implies the dangerous coast, so the thought of safe- 
guards in fellowship suggests the- perils of society. We 
shall, however, only place signals at several points of 
danger, for it is not our purpose to exhaust the possibility 
of shipwreck from inconsiderate companions, but to illus- 
trate a few of the dangers to which men are exposed. 

(a) Indiscriminate companionship may lead to many 
dangers. Many people go into society with the best inten- 



. 



402 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

tions, but are so prone to forget the true basis and worth 
of society and life. 

There must be an Exemplar ; and the true model of all 
worthy society and fellowship is He who " went about 
doing good." 

True society is neither recluse nor ascetic, but is the 
mingling of men with men to do each other good. 

Who can estimate the good that is flowing into society 
from the multiplied combines of Christian " Fellowship/' 
courtesy, cheer, and charity? A safeguard should con- 
sequently be placed against all questionable approaches, 
lest this influx of good be disturbed and hindered by 
" fellowship " and fraternity. 

In order to accomplish this guarding of society, God 
has inaugurated organized, united effort against evil. 
One of these organizations is the Church, which must 
ever be regarded as the mother of society and all true 
" fellowship " and fraternity. 

Christ Himself laid down the foundation, when He 
said, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." The 
importance and depth of meaning of this principle can 
only be realized when it takes root in the hearts of men 
by forming the germ of fellowship and fraternity, to knit 
men together, drawn by the cords of fellowship and 
brotherly love, based on Truth and Righteousness. This 
alone succeeds in melting the old perverted, selfish nature 
of man, like the summer sun melts the snow, until he is 
constrained to call his neighbor, grasp him by the hand, 
and call him brother — no matter what his creed, his poli- 
tics, or position in life. The bond of holy " fellowship " 
has possessed the soul, it is true ; free from guile, rich in 
sympathy, ready to be helpful — but ever jealous of the 
right, and it is that that makes it worthy the name 
" Fellowship." 



ROYAL ARCANUM 4°3 

Christ said to the self-righteous Pharisees : " If ye were 
Abraham's seed, ye would do the works of your Father 
Abraham." This must ever be the test. True fellowship 
must be based on the Gospel, which ever has " healing in 
its wings." It must be so unselfish that it looks for no 
other reward than the secret knowledge of some good 
work accomplished. And this may properly be looked for 
among a band of brethren where " Virtue teaches each 
lip and warns each heart." 

This is one of the great principles of our noble Order, 
and of which we need not be ashamed ; for this principle, 
combined with other high and noble strivings which are 
the natural outgrowth of this deep, broad, profound fun- 
damental — such as Fraternity, relief to the sick and dis- 
tressed, aid to widows and orphans of deceased members, 
and in many ways active in works of " Mercy and Char- 
ity," sympathy and brotherhood — may, I think, be safely 
applied to the Royal Arcanum, in that it brings men 
into close fellowship, and cherishes those feelings that 
thrive and put forth blossoms in each other's welfare. 

They are calculated to make men thoughtful and help- 
ful. Expanding the sentiments of " Virtue, Charity, and 
Mercy," they remind us of the principles of the Gospel, 
which does good to all men, by " breaking bread to the 
hungry, giving a cup of water to the thirsty, watching at 
the bedside of the sick, visiting the imprisoned " — duties 
which are, alas, too often neglected in ordinary friend- 
ships. Every one of the principles of the Royal Arcanum 
is useful as a guard or signal against evil, and proudly 
raises the banner covered with the inscription of " Virtue, 
Mercy, and Charity." 

These principles will help any thoughtful, sincere man 
to live up to the true standard of the Church of Christ, 
which is the greatest of all Orders of Fellowship — for it 



4°4 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

is a " World-wide Brotherhood." Perhaps one of the 
saddest forms in which the paradox concerning the " sav- 
ing of one's life to lose it," is realized in this very ill-con- 
sidered amiability, both toward the Church and the world. 
How often the seducer maliciously delights in the com- 
mon ruin he succeeds in effecting, alike of honor and of 
" the tie that binds " in the " fellowship " of holy things ; 
and how the Apostle's challenge of this blunder has 
thrilled the ages, " Know ye not that the friendship of the 
world is enmity with God ? " And surely Christian con- 
secration reaches its most momentous and touching crisis 
when it is willing to consider, not only its occupations 
and possessions, but its bonds of union as well. 

The bonds of general society too often prove to be only 
an unwholesome passion, destructive of noble sentiment, 
and disappointing, at least, the heart's hunger for either 
true happiness or sympathy. 

The typical society man is not often noted for profound 
holiness in life, nor yet for deep conviction and strict 
adherence to religious principles ; and yet it requires both 
these to make a noble friendship, with its possibilities of 
helpfulness and mutual satisfaction. 

We are told in the text, " But there is a friend that 
sticketh closer than a brother." The secret of this close 
cleavage and unbreakable union is to be found in the 
strong, firm foundation upon which it rests. It is for a 
worthier purpose than mere natural kinship, and the 
attachment is consequently more close and durable. 

(b) Fellowship inspires to high purposes. Emerson 
vividly displays this principle when he says, " Our chief 
want is somebody who can make us do what we are able. 
This is the service of a true friend. How he flings wide 
the doors of existence, what questions we ask of him, what 
an understanding we have. It is the only real society." 



L 



ROYAL ARCANUM 4°5 

Fellowship is all-embracing, deep, true, steadfast: 
"Thinketh no evil/' strives to be helpful. Friendship 
works powerfully for good, is a great power as a cher- 
ishing force, is elevating in its tendencies, educating in its 
strivings, and in all things ennobling. 

(c) Again, " Fellowship " gives impulse to unselfish 
relationship. Brotherly love and human Brotherhood are 
conceptions now held in deservedly high esteem, but they 
come to us through the Gospel and the Church. 

The ancient idea of a brother's attachment was that of 
Tribe, Clan, Selfish-interest, confined to a narrow circle. 
Of cordial affection there; was, alas, only too little — 
Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, found but little com- 
mon cause, except at a father's funeral. 

David had a number of brothers, but the son of his de- 
termined enemy became the friend whose loyal love may 
well have suggested the words of our text. 

As David sang that glorious public recognition of Jona- 
than's deep, consecrated friendship, there mingled an un- 
dertone of gratitude for unequaled personal devotion of 
a prince for an outlaw. 

Need we wonder that he sang that tender interlude, 
" Very pleasant hast thou been to me ; thy love to me was 
wonderful, passing the love of woman " ? 

" True friendship," said Washington, " is a plant of 
slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks 
of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation." 

And now, in conclusion, let us think of that " Friend 
that sticketh closer than a brother," in imitation of whom 
we have found possibilities of " Fellowship," and whom 
ages of Christian thought have recognized as the source 
of all that is noblest and most beautiful in human 
character. 

If ever fellowship aroused enthusiasm for truth and 



4°6 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

imparted peaceful blessings, the burning and shining 
lights in the history of reforms, revivals, and missions 
may be used as means by which to measure the power for 
good of Christian fellowship. 

But ideas need organization, and this involves fellow- 
ship. Wiclif said, " Jesus chose twelve men that they 
might have fellowship with Him." This gives us a con- 
ception of true fellowship. But what is most surprising 
is, that such a fellowship as Christ gave an example of 
could ever be compared with modern society. Should we 
not, then, stop and reflect, and ascertain how much we 
come short of this model, even the Christ, for that alone 
is true fellowship? The Church is the true organization 
of hallowed and blessed fellowship. 

Let us recall anew that unique companionship of the 
" Son of Man " as it grew into " Fellowship/' when He 
says, " I call you not servants, but friends, " and how the 
Apostles rejoiced in that personal association and attach- 
ment. " Our hands have handled," said the beloved dis- 
ciple ; " We were eye witnesses," " We were with Him," 
said Peter ; " Who loved me," said Paul. All that was 
dearest to these men in life, all they hoped for in death, 
all they fondly cherished for the ages of eternity, cen- 
tered in this blessed fellowship with Christ, and He said, 
" Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these, ye 
have done it unto Me." So let it be said of us, my breth- 
ren. May we all, by the grace of God, live true to our 
loved ones, true to our homes, true to each other, true to 
society, true to Christ, our common Elder Brother ; then 
shall there develop within each of our breasts a spontane- 
ous " fellowship " which will be beyond questioning, and 
which will commend itself to our fellows as beyond 
reproach. 

It will be a fellowship which will be rich in fruits of 



ROYAL ARCANUM 4°7 

kindness and helpfulness; a friendship which will unite 
our hearts in high and holy aspirations, with a common 
eagerness to serve each other, and to be loyal to the 
" Friend that sticketh closer than a brother." 

" How blessed the sacred tie that binds 
In union sweet accord, 
How swift the heavenly course they run 
Whose hearts, whose faith, whose hopes, are one. 

" To each the soul of each how dear, 
With jealous love, what holy fear, 
How doth the generous flame within 
Refine from earth and cleanse from sin. 

" Together both they seek the place 
Where God reveals His awful face; 
How high, how strong, their raptures swell, 
There's none but kindred souls can tell." 

All this is true of human fellowship, and we should 
make this high standard our constant aim, for then shall 
we measure up to the sacred principles of our Order, and 
shall cultivate true love for the Friend who can sustain 
us when all earthly friends are unable to help, as, in the 
case of President Edwards, who, when he had bidden all 
his household and friends farewell who stood by his bed- 
side in his dying hour, he turned his eyes heavenward 
and said, " And now, where is my Jesus of Nazareth, my 
true and never- failing friend ?" 



408 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

INSTALLATION NIGHT 

DELOS EVERETT, CLEVELAND, OHIO. 

Another year has rolled around, 
And we've gathered here once more, 
To witness another installation scene 
Upon this mortal shore ; 
'Twas just a year ago to-day, 
The scene I'll ne'er forget, 
Of the royal time we had that night 
In memory it lingers yet. 

Another year has rolled around, 
But the scene has changed to-night, 
Though w r e appear to be as happy 
And jovial, gay, and bright; 
Yet the solemn truth we must confess, 
There are loved ones that we miss, 
Who were with us to-night one year ago 
And filled our souls with bliss. 

Another year has rolled around, 

But they have passed away 

From out our Fraternal Council 

To realms of endless day; 

Where sickness, sorrow, pain, and death 

Are felt and seen no more, 

In that blessed Royal Council 

On heaven's immortal shore. 

Another year has rolled around, 
And our triumphs have been grand, 
For as the days went fleeing by 
We have added to our band 



ROYAL ARCANUM 4^9 

Some four-score royal brothers 
Who have joined- to Kalon's clan, 
From a true and holy purpose 
To aid their fellow-man. 

Another year has rolled around, 
But a new one doth appear, 
With its open door it welcomes us 
And extends its word of cheer; 
As we step across its threshold 
Into the year to come, 
We pray for heaven's blessing 
On our Arcanum home. 

Another year has rolled around, 
But there is one familiar face 
Who is not here with his manly form 
To fill his old accustomed place. 
McKinstry's chair is vacant, 
But while we assemble here, 
His name we'll ever cherish 
And his memory revere. 

Another year has rolled around, 
God help us to be true, 
And do to others as you would 
That they should do to you ; 
And thus fulfill our solemn vow 
And renew our pledge to-night 
To be an honor to our cause, 
A true Arcanumite. 



410 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

OUR EMBLEM— THE BUTTON* 

BY F. K. WEAVER, REGENT FREEPORT COUNCIL, PA. 

Men are growing more fraternal, 

You can see it on the street ; 
Indicated by the emblems worn 

By hundreds that you meet. 
Have you seen the R. A. button ? 

Here it is upon my coat, 
And 'tis fraught with deeper meaning 

Than a passing glance would note. 

Here you see our mystic number, 

'Tis a friend to those in need ; 
And the crown or royal emblem, 

Symbol of a noble deed ; 
Here three kindred spirits cluster; 

Virtue, Mercy, Charity; 
Represented on our button 

By the letters V. M. C. 

'Tis the kind, congenial mission 

Of this worthy little band 
To alleviate affliction ; 

Grasp the stricken by the hand ; 
Shield and aid the broken circle ; 

Follow Mercy as their guide : " 
Many millions have they scattered 

To bereaved far and wide. 

* Read at a reception tendered to the Grand Regent of Penn- 
sylvania, by Freeport Council, No. 237. 



ROYAL ARCANUM 41 1 

Who can estimate the solace 

That has followed in their train? 
Then I ask you in all candor, 

Has our Order lived in vain ? 
Two hundred thousand now we number ; 

'Tis an army staunch and grand ; 
Yet the outgrowth of a seedling, 

Planted by a loving hand. 

Would you know our Royal Secret, 

Secret of our great success? 
'Tis the love we bear our families ; 

Nothing more nor nothing less ; 
Love for her who shares our sorrows; 

Love for her who shares our joys; 
'Tis the love we have for baby ; 

For our girls and for our boys. 

Peer with me into the future ; 

Life, you know, is but a span ; 
Soon the summons you must answer ; 

Make you ready while you can ; 
Be not like the foolish virgins, 

Take a warning from their fate; 
What you do, do in the present, 

Then it cannot be too late. 

Would you leave the world to buffet 

Those you shield with tender care, 
Or by prudence, wise and tender, 

Ease the burdens they must bear? 
Throw a safeguard, then, around them; 

Do it now, not next year ; 
Cause them not a needless heartache, 

Or to shed a needless tear. 



412 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Come with us and wear this button ; 

Join us in our work of love ; 
Feed the hungry, clothe the naked ; 

Heed the mandate from above ; 
Give your dear ones sound protection ; 

Do it on the safest plan ; 
If it takes some self-denial, 

Do your duty, be a man. 



ROYAL ARCANUM RALLY SONG 

BY PROF. E. L. MCDOWELL. 

[Tune: Marching Through Georgia.] 

Two hundred thousand Brothers 
Marching on the Arcanum shore ; 

Two hundred thousand ! Soon there'll be 
Two hundred thousand more; 

Marching on to victory 
Proclaimed of God, divine, 

V. ! M. ! C. ! Royal Arcanum. 

Chorus. 

R. A. ! R. A. ! two hundred thousand strong, 

R. A. ! R. A. ! behold the mighty throng ; 

Spreading like the beech tree ; 

And growing like the pine; 

Three cheers for the Royal Arcanum. 

The sister graces Virtue, Mercy, 

Charity hath enrolled 
Two hundred thousand manly men 

Within our sacred fold ; 



ROYAL ARCANUM 4 X 3 

Two hundred thousand Brothers 

Known of all men by this sign, 
V. ! M. ! C. ! Royal Arcanum. 

Chorus. 

A ROYAL ARCANUM GLEE 

BY PROF. E. L. MCDOWELL. 

[Tune: Good Night, Ladies.] 
Shake hands, Brothers; 

Sing songs, Brothers; 
Sound the bugles, Brothers; 

Two hundred thousand strong! 

Chorus. 
Arcanians, hurrah, hooray; 

Sing and pray, march away ; 
Arcanians, on earth to-day, 

Two hundred thousand strong! 

March on, Brothers; 

Sing on, Brothers ; 
Pray on, Brothers ; 

For a few thousand more ! 

Chorus. 
Arcanians, hurrah, hooray; 

Sing and pray, march away; 
Arcanians, let's work and pray, 

For a few thousand more! 

Good day, Brothers; 

Good night, Brothers; 
God bless all the Brothers 

Two hundred thousand strong ! 



4H THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Chorus. 
Arcanians, hurrah, hooray ; 

Sing and pray, march away; 
Arcanians, good night, good day; 

Two hundred thousand strong ! 

CLOSING ODE* 

BY CHARLES RUSSEL TAYLOR, OF CARROLLTON COUNCIL, 
NO. 257, OF BALTIMORE, MD. 

[Air: Maryland, My Maryland.] 

Come, Brothers all, ere we depart 

To battle with the world without, 
Let each and every loyal heart 

Uniting in a plea devout 
Ask Him to send His kindly light, 
That we may learn to live aright, 
And, like a beacon from afar, 

Let Virtue be our guiding star. 

As we expect God's mercy, we 

Should Mercy show to friend and foe, 

Who, tempest tossed upon the sea 
Of life, are sinking 'neath the woe. 

Go feed the hungered ; ever seek 

To aid the poor, protect the weak. 

For we shall reap as we may sow 
The seeds of Mercy here below. 

Fling out the banner, let it fly — 

When skies are bright, when clouds are near — 
'Twill greet the weary passerby 

And bid a saddened heart to cheer, 

^Dedicated to the Grand Regent of Maryland. 



ROYAL ARCANUM 415 

Where Virtue dwells will Mercy reign 
With Charity — The Royal Chain, 
For one and all united we— 
" Greatest of these is Charity." 



DECORATION OF GRAVES OF ARCANIANS 
A Memorial Address* 

BY PAST REGENT HARVEY R. HARRIS. 

Brothers: It is well, it is meet, that the members of 
the Royal Arcanum, and especially of Halcyon Council, 
No. 672, a leader in all things, should on this bright 
autumnal day gather within the sacred precincts of this 
hallowed ground to inaugurate in behalf of their peerless 
fraternal Order the expressive and beautiful ceremony 
of decorating the graves of their departed brothers — 
a ceremony in recognition of and paying tribute to 
the worth, merit, and noble traits of manhood which our 
brothers now resting in the peaceful bosom of mother 
earth exemplified ere their departure to " that bourne 
from whence no traveler returns." 

The placing of a few flowers of love that have grown 
from the seeds of brotherhood planted by our grand fra- 
ternal Order will serve to cement stronger the ties that 
bind us. It seems to me the observance of this simple, 
tender, and loving ceremony teaches lessons of great value 
to all of us. It is said " a tree is known by its fruit " ; 
therefore the object and purpose of this great -fraternal 
Order can best be told by the record it has made. 

The Royal Arcanum was organized in 1877, and is, 

* At the decoration of graves of its members by Halcyon 
Council, No. 672, Royal Arcanum, Michigan City, Ind. 



4i6 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

therefore, twenty-three years in existence. It now has 
a membership exceeding two hundred thousand, and is 
steadily and healthfully growing. It has contributed to 
the relatives and friends of deceased members the sum 
of nearly sixty million dollars, and now has on hand in 
its Emergency Fund over one million dollars. It is the 
especial guardian of the widow and the orphan. It 
teaches lessons of charity and fraternity which may be 
applied every day, and which, when heeded, make its 
members more valuable citizens and better men in all the 
relations of life. 

But to my mind the most precious and ennobling fea- 
tures of the Order are its social and educational functions. 
In these it is teaching and exemplifying one of the 
greatest and grandest truths ever uttered, " the brother- 
hood of man." This great fundamental principle is the 
basis and mainspring of nearly all the fraternal Orders in 
existence. By practicing and developing this great truth 
we are best illustrating and proving that other .great and 
eternal truth, " the fatherhood of God." 

It has been said that " man's inhumanity to man makes 
countless thousands mourn." The truthfulness of this 
assertion is apparent on every hand and has never been 
disputed. 

The many fraternal organizations that are in existence 
to-day are all battling to curb and exorcise the hatred, the 
jealousy, the prejudice, and the selfishness of man, and, 
by touching the better chords and wellsprings of his 
being, appealing to his virtues, his mercy, his charity, his 
kindness, and his love, impress upon him the fact that the 
human family are all of kin, in that we are all brothers. 

Would that some power the " giftie gie us " to bid 
our brothers now at rest to join in these ceremonies, but 
as that cannot be, we will invoke all nature to our aid. 



ROYAL ARCANUM 4*7 

O earth, don thy richest dress of emerald hue. O 
flowers, put forth thy bud and blossom of rarest beauty 
and perfume ! O winds, kiss with thy gentle zephyrs 
the silent tombs of our beloved! O tree, wave in most 
graceful and majestic rhythm thy nodding plumes of 
welcome! O birds, pipe thy tuneful lays with sweetest 
melody! O angels, strike thy heavenly lyres until the 
diamond arches of the whole world resound with the 
grand and joyful anthem of " Peace on Earth and Good- 
will to Men." Then may the talismanic words, " virtue/' 
" mercy," " charity," be emblazoned on every hearthstone 
and proclaimed in every heart throb; then may Halcyon 
Council summon its sleeping brothers to meet in the grand 
council of the universe. 



THE MACCABEES 

Historical. — The Order of the Maccabees was organized in 
London, Ontario, in 1878, by gentlemen who planned a fraternal 
and beneficiary association whose ritual and forms were sug- 
gested by the heroic history of Judas Maccabaeus and his 
brothers. Making attractive provision for the widows and 
orphan children of its members, the new Order spread within 
two years into all the provinces of Canada and several of the 
United States, and in the beginning of 1880 it had issued over 
[0,000 certificates of membership. 

At first members were received without adequate medical 
examination and at a very low assessment. In the spring of 
1880 it was recognized that these conditions were threatening the 
Order with bankruptcy, and a convention for revision of the 
Constitution was called in the city of Buffalo, N. Y. Difference 
of judgment as to policy led to a division, and the secession of a 
considerable section from the Grand Body. The loyal members, 
however, continued their work of revision, being led especially 
by Major N. S. Boynton, of Port Huron, Mich., and the amended 
Constitution was perfected in February, 1881, and became the 
recognized law of the Order. 

It was provided that when the membership in any Province, 
Territory, or State reached the number of one thousand Great 
Camps might be organized, although the control of the death 
benefit fund still remained with the Supreme Tent. A charter 
for a Great Camp in Michigan was granted, and the Michigan 
Great Camp was organized under this, April 25, 1881, represent- 
ing eleven local Tents, and June 11, 1881, the " Great Camp, 
Knights of the Maccabees of the World for the State of Michi- 
gan," was incorporated under the laws of the State, and has been 
recognized as the parent Order, and June 11 is observed as its 
anniversary day. 

A call had been previously made for a meeting in Detroit, June 
15, to perfect the organization, and at that time twenty-two 
Subordinate Tents were represented,- and officers of the Great 
Camp were chosen and installed. 

The Supreme Tent met in Toronto in July following, and in 
that meeting the law was amended to put the control of the 
death benefit fund into the hands of the Great Camps for their 
respective jurisdictions. 

It was apparent that a reorganization of the financial control 
of the Order was imperative, and at a special session of Michigan 
Great Camp, at Port Huron, September S, 18S1, new iaws and a 

419 



420 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

new ritual were submitted by Dr. N. S. Boynton, and were 
unanimously adopted. Dr. Boynton traveled carefully over the 
State, and maintained his central office with great devotion at 
Port Huron, holding the office of Great Record Keeper till 1894, 
when he became Great Commander, and he has since continued 
in this highest office of the Great Camp of Michigan till the 
present time. The business of the Great Camp grew rapidly with 
the prosperity of the Order, and in 1892 a building for head- 
quarters was erected in Port Huron. This was occupied by the 
general offices of the Order April 1, 1893. 

The Great Camp of Michigan growing and prospering, while 
by law it became financially independent of the Supreme Tent, 
the latter became practically defunct, the Great Camp of Michi- 
gan being generally recognized as the parent body. But in Sep- 
tember, 1883, a Supreme Tent was again organized, and Dr. 
Boynton was again chosen to the office of Supreme Record 
Keeper, and the building up of the reorganized Supreme Tent 
went on. 

The Order of Knights of the Maccabees aims to unite fra- 
ternally all white persons of sound bodily health and good moral 
character who are socially acceptable, and provides for death, 
sick, funeral, accident, and permanent-disability benefits. Per- 
sons can participate in the benefits of the Order only through 
membership in some Subordinate Tent. The work of the Subor- 
dinate Tent is conducted under a ritual which is both pleasing 
and instructive. Violent, humiliating, or boisterous initiations 
are strictly prohibited. , 

The Supreme Tent has a general jurisdiction over the entire 
continent, with 4621 Subordinate Tents reporting in 1903, with 
over 330,000 members, ranking third among the great beneficiary 
orders. Members pay rates monthly, and all invested moneys of 
the Order must be in Government, State, or Municipal bonds. 

The membership is divided into Life-Benefit and Social mem- 
bers, but only those who are disqualified for life-benefit mem- 
bership, by reason of age or physical infirmities, can become 
social members. Any duly qualified member may participate in 
the Sick, Funeral, and Accident funds. Life-Benefit members 
are entitled to participate in the Life-Benefit Fund to the extent 
of from $500 to $3000; age limit fifty-one years. In case of 
total and permanent disability, a Life-Benefit member is entitled 
to receive one-tenth of the amount of his certificate annually 
until fully paid. 

The Order was reorganized in 1883, with 1000 members. Its 
membership reported May 1, 1903, was 332,581. Its net cash 
invested funds at that time amounted to $2,552,509.60. 



THE MACCABEES 4 21 

LADIES OF THE MACCABEES OF THE WORLD 

Historical. — In 1890 the Knights of the Maccabees enacted a 
law providing for an auxiliary branch of ladies, and the " Ladies 
of the Maccabees " were organized under their own laws, with 
their own ritual and financial control. 

This branch organization has had a most prosperous and help- 
ful career. A general body, corresponding to the Supreme Tent, 
and working outside the State of Michigan, is known as the 
Supreme Hive, the Great Hive corresponding to the Great Camp. 

The first Hive, composed of wives of the Knights of the Mac- 
cabees, was organized at Muskegon, Mich., originally for purely 
social purposes and as a merely local society. But in 1886 ap- 
plication was made to the Great Camp for Michigan, in session 
at Kalamazoo, for recognition as an auxiliary branch to aid local 
tents socially, and for laws to provide for life and disability bene- 
fits to be collected and disbursed by the auxiliary society itself. 
The request was refused, as was a second and similar applica- 
tion in 1887, but in 1888 the Great Camp, in session at Port 
Huron, recognized the organization of a Great Hive for Michi- 
gan, auxiliary to the Great Camp ; and finally the Great Hive 
was formally organized and approved, and its elected officers 
were installed by Major N. S. Boynton, Great Record Keeper, 
in May, 1890. Confined at first to Michigan, Hives were sub- 
sequently organized in different States by their respective Great 
Camps, and the Supreme Hive of the Order of the Ladies of 
the Maccabees of the World was organized October 1, 1892, to 
harmonize the workings of the various Great Hives, and to 
render their social, ritualistic, and other work uniform, and to 
be the supreme authority of the Order. 

This Order is claimed to have been the first movement of the 
kind among women offering death benefits, making its own laws, 
and transacting its own business. Its total membership in 1896 
was 66,000, and was extended through more than half the States 
of the Union and Provinces of Canada. It aids sick and dis- 
tressed members, buries the dead, and pays disability and death 
benefits. Women between the ages of sixteen and fifty-two are 
admitted to life-benefit membership, after passing a medical 
examination. Their death-benefit certificates are for $500, $1000, 
and $2000; and in case of permanent disability, or on reaching 
the age of seventy years, they receive annually one-tenth of the 
sum named in their certificates. 

The Order, in 1903, was the seventh largest society among all 
the fraternal beneficiary orders of America. It issued certificates 
for $250, $300, $1000, and $2000. It included 2374 subordinate 
Hives, with a membership of 119,287, its certificates in force 
amounting to $82,712,397.78. The Order paid, from its organiza- 
tion to May 1, 1903, death and disability claims to the amount 
of $2,525,470.87, and had accumulated an emergency fund of 
$622,866.56. 



422 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

CERTIFICATE CONDITIONS* 

BY HON. D. D. AITKEN, SUPREME COUNSELOR SUPREME 
TENT, KNIGHTS OF THE MACCABEES. 

What conditions a certificate of membership in a fra- 
ternal benefit association should contain has been one 
of the problems that the societies have had to meet. 
Whether it should contain a copy of the laws making 
certificates void under certain conditions, whether it 
should contain clauses of forfeiture for certain acts, 
whether it should contain conditions of forfeiture for 
certain failures to perform, or whether it should be simply 
a certificate of membership, has been the question to be 
decided. 

The objection to a certificate containing a copy of any 
portion of the laws is that the laws are subject to change, 
and, when changed, the copy that was endorsed upon the 
certificate is void and of no effect, and that part of the 
certificate ceases to be even a matter of information to 
the holder, and the only possible effect it can have is 
one of embarrassment. 

The same thing might be said of the certificates con- 
taining clauses of forfeiture, but an additional embar- 
rassment occurs from the fact that when clauses of 
forfeiture are printed on the certificate it is supposed to 
contain all those clauses of the laws which work a for- 
feiture, and, while the same conditions in the laws might 
be retained that worked a forfeiture at the time the 
certificate was issued, additional laws might be enacted, 
working forfeitures for different and additional reasons, 

*A paper read before the National Fraternal Congress at its 
fourteenth annual session, held at Boston. 



THE MACCABEES 423 

and might create new liabilities and new duties in addi- 
tion to those enumerated in the certificate for which a 
failure to perform would void the certificate. 

For these reasons I have become satisfied that no con- 
ditions should be printed upon the certificate except that 
the member or his beneficiary would be entitled to par- 
ticipate in the funds, provided the member complied in 
every particular with the laws that were in force at the 
time he became a member, or that were thereafter enacted 
during his membership. 

I realize that one of the objections we have to meet on 
this question is the Insurance Commissioners and the 
insurance laws of the various States and Provinces, 
where, even under the Uniform Bill, different construc- 
tions and different requirements are placed upon the 
associations ; some requiring that a specified, stated 
amount shall be fixed in the certificate ; others holding 
that any specified amount named in the certificate, re- 
gardless of what an assessment will bring forth, develops 
the association into an insurance company, and requires 
them to put up the guarantee that they will be able to 
fulfill their contract and pay the amount stipulated for 
in the certificate. Other States, again, prohibit any 
matter of defense in an action brought by a certificate 
holder or his beneficiary, except such as is printed on the 
back of the certificate, and thus the difficulties in con- 
nection with this branch of fraternal benefit insurance 
multiply. 

It would seem, however, that with a proper under- 
standing of the subject by the legislatures of the various 
States and the Commissioners of Insurance, this objection 
could be obviated. These men could be brought to see 
the fallacy of attempting at this period in fraternal benefit 
insurance to create any rigid rules in this respect. They 



424 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

could readily understand that with a great number of 
associations organized and doing business without any 
previous guide or understanding of the necessities, the 
safety of the membership and the preservation of the 
association would require changes and new conditions in 
the conduct of the business. 

They would realize that when these associations started 
out, made up entirely of new blood fresh from a medical 
examination, they could, without excessive assessments, 
pay suicides ; that they could, without being burdensome 
to the members, pay. the certificates of those who had 
fraudulently obtained their membership, and could, with- 
out apparent injustice, pay benefits to those who engaged 
in hazardous occupations ; and would understand that, as 
time went on and age overtook the membership, and the 
death rate increased, necessity would compel societies 
engaged in this business to throw upon the membership 
additional requirements, to create new conditions that 
would void the certificate, such as death from suicide, 
false representations at time of admission, and engaging 
in hazardous occupations. 

They would realize not only the necessity, but the 
equity of such changes, and with their minds enlightened 
in this respect they would see the absurdity of attempting 
to print the contract in the certificate of membership, for 
if the society is permitted to make the change because it 
is right for it to do so, and its safety demands it, and it 
is permitted by the courts of the. country, then this, of 
itself, proves to a moral certainty that the printing of 
conditions on the certificate is unwarranted, and will, in 
the future, be misleading. 

The argument of some Commissioners and some legis- 
lators as to why conditions should be printed on the 
certificate is that this is the instrument that the member 



THE MACCABEES 4 2 5 

has. He may not have any copy of the laws ; his medical 
examination is not in his keeping; but his certificate is 
always before him and he can refer to that to determine 
his rights as a member of the association. The fact that 
the laws may have been changed, and the conditions men- 
tioned in his certificate entirely obviated and others 
created of which the certificate bears no record, presents 
the difficulty. 

The courts of most of the States have held that if the 
certificate contains a clause that the member shall be 
bound by the laws that are thereafter enacted, that that 
part of the certificate is just as binding on him as any 
other portion of it, and that any law that is thereafter 
enacted will control the disposition of the fund ; and this 
holding is based on the doctrine that to hold otherwise 
would create classes in the membership; that every time 
the supreme body met and made alterations in its laws, 
created new conditions, and provided for new forfeitures 
it would create a distinct class, and that while they would 
all be paying alike, they would all be subject to the same 
expense and same cost of management, still, some would 
have rights that others would not have, and that it would 
be utterly impossible with any idea of fairness, justice, or 
equity to attempt such a distinction. 

This holding, this opinion of the courts, demonstrates 
that conditions in a certificate are of no effect if the laws 
have been legally changed, and if they have not been 
legally changed then no condition in the certificate would 
be necessary, because the law itself would govern and 
control. 

Some of the older societies started out to give additional 
benefits. They provided, some of them, that when the 
member reached a certain age he would receive a portion 
of the face of his certificate. Later on, the legislature 



426 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

of most of the States, and the Commissioners as well, who 
were not so enthusiastic for the present success of the 
associations, prohibited them from doing business in their 
States with such requirements, and they were forced to 
change the law, and to provide for payment only when the 
member was totally and permanently disabled, which con- 
dition was permitted by the laws. 

Now the courts have said that it would not be justice 
to permit those old members, who agreed to be bound 
by the laws that were thereafter enacted, to demand their 
money on arriving at a certain period in life, whether 
disabled or not, and require the later admitted member 
t6 be totally and permanently disabled before he would 
be entitled to receive, each paying the same towards the 
sustenance of the society. 

Nearly all the societies started out to pay all deaths, 
regardless of their cause. Later on many of them, be- 
lieving that the payment of suicides encouraged it, 
provided that no claim should be paid where the member 
committed suicide within one year after admission. 
Later, it became evident to them that still greater pre- 
cautions must be taken, and they increased from one year 
to five years, and provided that the beneficiary of any 
member who committed suicide within five years after 
admission should not be entitled to participate in the 
funds. 

Thus, if the conditions were valid in the certificate 
(and if they are not valid they ought not to be there) 
you would have three classes of members in that asso- 
ciation: The member who has no restrictions as to 
death by suicide; the member who committed suicide 
within one year after admission ; and the member who 
committed suicide within five years after admission ; all 
paying the same rate of assessment, all enjoying the same 



THE MACCABEES 4^7 

rights socially in the Order, but each under different con- 
ditions. 

The same thing may be said of any and every condition 
that can be named in the certificate, except the one condi- 
tion that if the member complies with all the laws that 
are then in force, or that may thereafter be enacted, he 
shall be entitled to participate in the funds to the extent 
that the law of the Order provides for the class to which 
he belongs. 

I realize that the courts are not uniform in their hold- 
ings on these questions, and so in reference to decisions 
I speak generally, as several States have taken the posi- 
tion that members were not bound by the laws that were 
thereafter enacted, even though they have so agreed in 
their applications for membership and it was so specified 
in the certificate ; but this would have no bearing on the 
question, as the same thing would have been true had 
there been no specifications in the certificate, as those 
courts held that the laws that were in force at the time 
the member joined were the laws that governed their 
decisions. 

The theory of beneficial associations is that the interest 
of all members is mutual, and that the associations are 
organized, not for profit, but in the interest of the mem- 
bers. Then it follows that if the interest- of all the 
members is mutual, you must create no classes by giving 
one the advantage over another, and this is done every 
time the laws are changed, working additional forfeitures, 
unless it shall apply to all members of the association 
alike. 

There is only one condition, to my mind, that would 
ever authorize the making of the certificate of member- 
ship the contract between the member and the association, 
and that is that the laws were never to be changed ; and 



428 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

I believe it would be rather presumptuous in any society 
to presume that it had knowledge sufficient, even at 
this time, to enact laws that time would not show 
defective and experience would not show necessity for 
change. 



NATIONAL UNION 

Historical. — This is a beneficiary assessment fraternity, organ- 
ized and legally incorporated at Mansfield, Ohio, May n, 1881. 
Its foremost organizer was Dr. A. E. Keyes, who had been 
Supreme Director of the Knights of Honor and Supreme Regent 
of the Royal Arcanum. Several other leading organizers had 
been active members of older fraternities. 

They associated together to form, according to their own 
statement at the time, a distinctively American, secret, benefi- 
ciary order, formed to associate white male citizens of good 
moral character, sound bodily health, between twenty and fifty 
years of age; to advance its members morally, socially, and intel- 
lectually; to provide for the relief of sick and distressed mem- 
bers and their families, and to secure a benefit fund from which, 
upon the death of a member, a sum not exceeding $5000 shall 
be paid to such beneficiaries related to the deceased member as 
may have been designated in accordance with the laws of the 
Order. Certificates are issued in amounts of $1000, $2000, 
$3000, $4000, and $5000. 

This society differed from the earlier fraternal beneficiary 
societies in the adoption of a system of assessments on what 
was called the " step-rate " principle. By this assessments are 
graded according to the age of members, not merely on joining 
the society, but all along, assessments advancing each year with 
the age of the members ; so that each member pays from year 
to year the actual cost of protection afforded. This system 
is based on the increasing cost of insurance as a member advances 
in age, and the life of the Order does not depend upon new 
members alone, but also upon the higher rate of assessment as 
members grow older, thus meeting the common objection against 
assessment societies. Each member really pays the actual cost 
continually of his own insurance, and does not become a burden 
to the Order as he grows old. There is, therefore, as much 
pecuniary inducement to join the Order now as when it was 
just starting. 

The National Union takes patriotism for a leading principle, 
and models its government after that of the United States, and" 
brings the flag into its ritualistic work. . Its Supreme body is . 
called the Senate, the State or Grand bodies are called Assem- 
blies or Legislatures, and the subordinate local societies are' 
called -Councils or Lodges.- The upper bodies- are of- elected rep- 
resentatives. A badge is worn, representing a "shield, and a 

429 



43° THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

lapel button is also used, both of these displaying the National 
colors. 

The Order has grown prosperously, having an excellent finan- 
cial reputation, and has spread into most of the States of the 
American Union, and has a membership of about 65,000. In 1896 
it had paid to beneficiaries the sum of $7,500,000. 

December 31, 1902, it reported 849 Councils in thirty-five of 
the States of the Union, with a membership in good standing of 
64,960; insurance in force, $150,341,000. 

The new members added during the year were 8319; those 
lapsed during the year were 4657; and 638 died. 

The benefits paid in 1892 amounted to $1,791,750; and those 
paid since 1881 to $17,365468.57. 



MAN'S DUTY TO HIS FAMILY 
A Sermon 

BY REV. M. A. MATTHEWS, D. D v FIRST PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON. 

But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of 
his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an 
infidel. — I Timothy, v. 8. 

First. — The home is a divine institution. Its responsi- 
bilities are great and irrevocable. The Christian religion 
recognizes the bonds and increases their sacredness. The 
man is the head of the family, and by divine decree is 
made the bread-winner. Upon him falls the duty of 
making provision for his home and for all beneath its 
roof. There are two life provisions one is compelled to 
make, namely, one must provide for the temporal needs 
of those dependent upon him, and for his future char- 
acter and state. The first preparation for a home is the 
development of a strong moral character. Pure love 
is the basis of domestic as well as spiritual faith. Chaste 



NATIONAL UNION 



431 



love is only possible to one morally clean. The sec- 
ond preparation is the growth of a tireless, frugal na- 
ture. 

The temporal necessities of one's wife, children, and 
home must be met. To deny their appeals is inhumane. 
To disregard the responsibility is to deny the Christian 
faith, and to brand one as a rebel and a blasphemer. No 
man has a right to lead a woman from the altar to the pot- 
ter's field. If he has not the courage, will, and health to 
provide for her wants, then to marry is a crime. No man 
has a right to bring into this world a child unless he has 
made provision for its support, its education, and its moral 
development. He has no legal or moral right to lay his 
child in the lap of the State and demand the public 
treasury to become its benefactor. 

The protection of one's home and family is a responsi- 
bility that cannot be shifted. He who provides for his 
home, educates his children, and transmits the character 
of an upright citizen has made the largest contribution 
to his country and generation. It is true that this is an 
age of reckless, careless, extravagant families. An hon- 
est husband and a faithful father will govern that to a 
great extent. Thoughtless, spend-thrift wives should be 
disciplined and taught self-denial. Children must be 
taught to be economical and honest. 

Prodigal husbands ought to be punished by statute, 
and be made to work under State control, the proceeds 
of their labor to be collected by the State and applied to 
the support of their wives and children. If the legisla- 
ture will make such a law the people will be saved much 
money now being spent to support the helpless ones made 
so by indigent, profligate husbands, A man who will 
not willingly support his family ought to be hired out 
by law for that purpose. Confine him and work him 



43 2 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

at hard labor, in a public place, until want is driven 
from his home and until his children become self-sus- 
taining. 

There are others whose families suffer because of mis- 
fortune. This is a day of uncertain investments. For- 
tunes of to-day become birds of passage to-morrow. The 
rich who rode yesterday are walking to-day. The 
present thriving city may soon become the deserted vil- 
lage. No one knows what a day may bring forth. It 
is well to provide for such crises. God has opened many 
ways by which one may provide for emergencies. They 
are not the work of human genius ; they are direct, divine 
provisions. 

I use an umbrella because it is the natural evolution 
of the divine law of self-protection. I change my cloth- 
ing as the temperature changes for the same reason. 

So I believe in fire, marine, and life insurance on the 
same principle. It protects me and provides for my 
household. In one sense all insurance is mutual, co- 
operative, and fraternal.**-" Old-line " companies gather 
the annual payments of their many policy holders, put 
them through the commercial mill of compound interest, 
and turn out for you protection and for your family 
provision. I believe in " old-line " insurance, and, if I 
were able, would carry a million dollar policy. It is a 
safe investment and a sure provision for life's rainy day. 
I also believe in " Fraternal " insurance. Two reasons 
make me advocate it: 

First. There are many who are unable to carry any 
other kind. Every young man ought to have some in- 
surance. Young men, of all men, ought to be insured. 
There are many whose salaries are so small they cannot 
afford a large-premium policy. Then let them take a 
cheaper insurance. Someone says, "Cheap insurance 



NATIONAL UNION 433 

is dangerous, and fraternal companies often fail." That 
statement is tmtrue; but, admit that some do fail; not 
a dollar has been lost. Every dollar of fraternal insur- 
ance goes direct to help some widow and comfort some 
suffering orphan. It was a true charity, and you were 
protected during the life of the company. 

Second. Anything which brings men together and 
inspires friendship, confidence, and brotherly love has 
my support. Fraternal insurance has united men in a 
bond that cannot be broken. It has bridged the grave, 
and has made the surviving members the personal 
guardians of the widow and the orphans. 

If I could go into every humble home, light a fire in 
the grate, put a warm meal on the table, cover its bed 
with blankets, and make happy each child, my cup of joy 
would overflow. If I cannot go in person, I can go in 
an insurance policy. My monthly assessments shall take 
the wings of the morning and carry to homes of sorrow 
comfort and brotherly support. X My annual premiums 
in " old-line " companies shall 'convey to widows and 
orphans compound aid and sympathy. God bless the 
day of insurance. A man owes it to the State, to him- 
self, and to his family to insure his life. 

Third. A man has betrayed the faith if he does not 
provide for his future state and if he does not transmit 
to his children a righteous name and an immaculate 
character. No man has a right to bring a child into this 
world and curse it with an immoral nature and an im- 
pure character. It is the father's business to provide for 
himself a clean life, and, therefore, for his children a 
model-like father. He is responsible to that extent for 
their destiny. He can make rich provisions in Christ. 
A man and his whole household can be saved and he can 
be assured of the future state. 



434 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all things shall be 
added. In your Father's house you shall have an apart- 
ment all your own, and it was not made with hands, it is 
eternal, and in the Heaven. Take both kinds of insur- 
ance — Earthly and Heavenly. 



MODERN WOODMEN OF AMERICA 

Historical. — This fraternal beneficiary society is easily con- 
founded with the " Woodmen of the World," noticed after this 
article, and founded by the same person a little later. The Mod- 
ern Woodmen of America was founded at Lyons, Iowa, by 
Joseph C. Root. The first " Camp," as its Lodges are called, was 
instituted January 5, 1883, which is commonly regarded as the 
birthday of the Order, though its beginning dates back some- 
what earlier. It was incorporated as an Order under the laws 
of Illinois in 1884. 

It provides benefit certificates of $500, $1000, $2000, or $3000 
to the families of deceased members, as well as for care and 
attention during sickness. 

This Order is confined by its charter to the States of Illinois, 
Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan, Kansas, North 
Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Indiana, and Ohio, from which 
the cities of Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Cincin- 
nati are excluded. This, it is claimed, makes its territory the 
healthiest in the country. It also refuses membership to per- 
sons engaged in hazardous occupations. 

Members are thus given the advantage of the smallest possible 
risk, and the cost of their insurance has been less than $5.00 per 
annum for $1000. This has made the Order very popular, and 
their additions in a single year were 45,000. In one year they 
paid 692 death claims, amounting to $6,522,385, and September 
1, 1896, they reported $515,000,000 of insurance in force. 

With this clear eye to business the Order' yet makes much of 
the social and fraternal side of secret society life, and the cere- 
monies are beautifully suggestive of the free forest life, and the 
" Camps " keep alive in their ritual the work of the early, hardy 
pioneers. 

The members are assessed according to their age at joining, 
the amount, once fixed, remaining unchanged. 

An auxiliary branch, entitled the Modern Woodmen, admits 
members of the Order and their women relatives. Most of its 
members belong simply to the fraternal society, but there are 
3000 who have a beneficiary membership. 

The membership of the Order in 1896 was 210,000, in 4180 
local Camps. 



435 



436 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 



WOODMEN OF THE WORLD 

Historical. — This Order was founded by Mr. Joseph C. Root, 
founder of the Modern Woodmen of America, in company with 
others. It was organized at Omaha, Nebraska, June 3, 1890. It 
was called at first a new society of Modern Woodmen of 
America. Its governing body is the Sovereign Camp of the 
World. Benefit certificates of $1000, $2000, and $3000 were 
authorized, but only to members of the Sovereign Camp, and it 
was provided that when the Sovereign Camp exceeds 10,000 
members a separate jurisdiction may be formed, provided its 
membership shall not exceed 5000. 

On this principle a Pacific Jurisdiction was established, con- 
sisting of Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, Washington, 
Oregon, California, and Colorado. The present name was 
adopted August 13, 1890, to distinguish the Order from the 
Modern Woodmen of America. The Order has since been ex- 
tended in Canada, where, also, there is a separate jurisdiction. 

Its certificates of insurance have been modified, so that now 
they are issued for $500, $1000, $1500, $2000, $2500, and $3000. 
They also erect monuments at the graves of deceased women 
members. 

Women's Circles have been recently organized, but contain 
over 1000 members. 

The Order has a system of life members, Woodmen joining 
the Order between the ages of 16 and 33 years becoming life 
members in 30 years, those joining between 33 and 43 years 
become life members in 25 years, and those joining at over 43 
years become life members in 20 years. 

Death benefits are paid from assessments levied when needed, 
but death benefits of life members are paid by a special quarterly 
assessment when necessary. 

The entire membership in 1903 was about 300,000, of which the 
original jurisdiction of the United States included about 200,000, 
the jurisdiction of the Pacific States, 87,947, and the jurisdiction 
of Canada about 3000. 

These three Subordinate Head Camps are governed by one 
Sovereign Camp. 



INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD 
OF MAINTENANCE- OF- WAY EMPLOYEES 

Historical. — This Order was instituted August 15, 1887, at 
Demopolis, Ala., under the name The Order of Railway Track- 
men. Its headquarters was removed in 1891 to St. Louis, Mo., 
and subsequently its name was changed to the International 
Brotherhood of Maintenance-of-Way Employees. It spread 
rapidly through the United States and Canada, showing re- 
markable development in the Southern States, and including 
many members not strictly " trackmen." 

Its seventh annual, and fourth biennial, convention was held 
in St. Louis, December 1, 1902, and there were present repre- 
sentatives from 75 Divisions, and it counted in its connection 
294 working Divisions. The representation, considering the great 
distances and cost of time and money involved in attendance, 
was considered most satisfactory, and there were the strongest 
evidences of loyal interest in the Order and cordial harmony. 
The report of the Executive Committee covered the two years 
ending October 31, 1902, and showed remarkable progress in 
members and pecuniary strength. 

In 1898 the Order was put upon a protective basis, and a system 
of benefits was established for death or total disability. These 
benefits are open to all members of the Order between the ages 
of 18 and 55 years, and are for $500 and $1000, with assessments 
respectively, according to age, of 50 cents to $1.00 and $1.00 to 
$1.75. The Executive Committee reported for the two years 
past that death benefits had been paid for twenty-three members, 
with an aggregate amount of $20,210.26. , 

The Grand President reported the successful carrying of the 
Order through the trials of two great strikes; and that in the 
arbitration proceedings in Montreal, in May, 1902, they had con- 
vinced the third arbitrator, who was the Chief Justice of the 
Province of Ontario, that the cost of living had increased twenty 
per cent, since 1897, and he had, therefore, awarded a corre- 
sponding advance of pay. 

The Grand President also reported that wage schedules pro- 
viding for increased wages and better conditions had been gen- 
erally secured, the advance in wages amounting in the aggregate 
to more than $2,000,000 per annum ; though this was not quite as 
much as the general increase in the cost of living. 

A woman's auxiliary had been much discussed during the two 
years, and in 1902 a number of subordinate lodges had been 

437 



433 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

formed and associated in a Grand Lodge, which had chosen Miss 
Alice C. Mulkey as Grand President. Representatives from this 
body applied to the convention and were formally recognized 
by that body. Their Constitution admitting to membership mem- 
bers of the Brotherhood, all the members in the convention were 
so enrolled, and the auxiliary was regularly started upon its 
good work. 



AN ADDRESS * 

BY GRAND PRESIDENT JOHN T. WILSON 

Brother Delegates: This is the seventh annual, 
and fourth biennial, convention held since our Brother- 
hood was instituted on August 15, 1887. Prior to that 
time several unsuccessful attempts had been made by 
different parties and at different times and places to form 
an organization for the benefit of our craft, and since 
then several efforts have been made by Maintenance-of- 
Way men residing in different localities to form national 
and international organizations. In some instances the 
parties were apparently actuated by selfish motives; in 
others they proved their sincerity by co-operating with 
us and transferring their members to our organization. 

In the beginning we had many obstacles to overcome. 
Owing to our inexperience several years were consumed 
in evolving a workable and practical plan. In 1898 our 
organization was placed upon a protective basis. Pre- 
vious to that time the only inducement we could offer 
non-members to get them to join us, and to hold our own 
members together, was our insurance feature and the 
feeling that causes men engaged in like pursuits to stick 
together. It took a great deal of time, money, and ear- 

*To the fourth biennial convention of the Brotherhood of Rail- 
way Trackmen of America, St. Louis, Mo. 



MAINTENANCE-OF-WAY EMPLOYEES 439 

nest, prudent effort upon the part of the founders and 
promoters of the organization to cause Maintenance-of- 
Way men to realize that it was possible for them to form 
themselves into a protective organization. During the 
last four years we have put forth our best efforts and 
expended a great deal of money trying to secure the 
adoption of our plan by the Maintenance-of-Way men of 
the country ; but only a small percentage of those eligible 
to membership have realized that it is their duty and 
would be to their interest to become members and sup- 
porters of the movement. 

Building up a protective organization is very much 
like constructing a machine. Before a machine can be 
successfully operated all parts must be connected so that 
each part will work in harmony with all other parts. The 
same thing applies to a collection of individuals. In the 
first place, the plan of organization must be right — it must 
be practical ; in the second place, the men in whose behalf 
the organization is established must become members and 
supporters of it, and each member must work in harmony 
with all other members. Unless men are organized, 
thoroughly drilled, properly officered, and prepared to 
act in concert, they cannot reasonably expect to win in 
an industrial battle. Our plan of organization is, I be- 
lieve, almost perfect. But before our Brotherhood can 
be made profitable for our members on a system of rail- 
way, the Maintenance-of-Way employees on that system 
must be thoroughly organized, the machinery of their 
system organization must be placed in perfect working 
order, and Subordinate Divisions must be instituted at 
all points where they are needed; the divisions must be 
well-officered; local protective boards must be elected; a 
joint protective board must be provided for; the men's 
demands must be reasonable, properly formulated, and 



44<> THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

presented to the officials in a proper manner. Then, if the 
relief asked for is not given, their demands must be made 
emphatic, and in order to force the officials to make con- 
cessions an order for the men to suspend work will have 
to be given. When such an order is given it must be 
obeyed, and all concerned must do everything in their 
power in a lawful way to prevent others from taking their 
places. A strike is war. The majority of strikes en- 
gaged in by workmen for better conditions have been 
won; if a strike is lost, it is not always due to the men's 
demand being unreasonable. As a rule, when strikes 
are lost it is either due to the men engaged in them hav- 
ing bad generals or poor soldiers, or both. 

People who represent capital are usually well organ- 
ized, and they have the ablest generals that money can 
purchase to look after their interests. Wage-earners 
should never engage in a contest with their employers 
until they are sure they have an able general, capable 
and faithful lieutenants, and that they themselves are 
soldiers able to fight and willing to make any sacrifice to 
win. Under such circumstances wealth is usually forced 
to give way and right triumphs over wrong. 

It has never been the policy of the Brotherhood to 
advocate strikes. The head of an organization, if he has 
the welfare of its members at heart, will not sanction a 
strike order if living wages and fair conditions of em- 
ployment can be obtained by peaceful methods. 

Since our last convention I have been compelled to 
sanction two strike orders — one on the Maine Central 

Railway, and the .other on the Canadian Pacific 

Shortly after the strike was inaugurated many of 
the trackmen who went on strike, upon learning that 
the trainmen's Orders would not come to the rescue, be- 
came discouraged, lost heart, and returned to work. 



MAINTENANCE-OF-WAY EMPLOYEES 44* 

It was reported that locomotive engineers scabbed on 
members of the B. R. T. of A. by coaling their own 
engines. One engineer and one conductor, in an article 
which appeared in the press above their signatures, ad- 
vised the men to desert their leaders and return to work. 
The chairman of the committee was placed in the same 
position as Robert Emmet, the noted Irish patriot, who 
attempted to lead an army of Irish Nationalists in an 
uprising against the English Government, for which he 
paid the penalty with his life. It is said that Emmet 
believed that at a given signal from him all Ireland would 
rise in revolt, and that he would be aided by thousands 
of Frenchmen. 

One biographer states that not more than eighty Irish- 
men responded to the signal when it was given. It was 

a case of a leader without followers I am 

happy to be able to state that harmonious relations be- 
tween the officials and the Maintenance-of-Way men have 
been restored, and they are working in harmony to make 
the institution profitable to the shareholders. 

Wage schedules providing for increased wages and 
better conditions of employment have been secured for 
our members on various roads in the United States and 
Canada. The advances secured, directly or indirectly, 
will amount, in the aggregate, to more than two million 
dollars per annum ; but the advances in the wages secured 
have been more than offset by the increased cost of living. 
When the purchasing power of a wage-earner's income 
is decreased on account of the increased cost of living it 
is equal to a reduction, unless he receives a correspond- 
ing increase in wages. 

In the C. P. Railway arbitration proceedings which 
took place in Montreal last May, we convinced Sir John 
A. Boyd, Chief Justice for the Province of Ontario (the 



442 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

third arbitrator), that the cost of living had increased 20 
per cent, since 1897. We also convinced him that wage- 
earners should not be compelled to reduce their standard 
of living because times are prosperous and the corpora- 
tions by which they are employed are making large divi- 
dends. The result was that he rendered an award giving 
the men an advance of 20 per cent, over the rates paid in 

1897. 

I believe that all disputes between capital and labor 
should be adjudicated by impartial boards of arbitration, 
and especially so when the dispute is between railway com- 
panies and their employees. A railway corporation is a 
public and not a private institution. Railway employees 
are semi-public servants. The public is the source from 
which dividends and wages are derived, and public rights 
should not be disregarded by either the well-paid officials 
of a company or its poorly-paid employees. 

I hope the time is not far distant when refusal on the 
part of employers or employees to submit the settlement 
of their differences to arbitration will be rebuked so 
severely by the public that defeat will be assured to the 
party refusing. When a man, a company, or a collection 
of individuals refuse to submit differences to arbitra- 
tion it is an acknowledgment that they know they have 
assumed a wrong position, and that an impartial jury 
would render a verdict against them. 

It is conceded that the best way to insure peace between 
two nations is for each to have a strong army, a strong 
navy, and powerful guns with which to inflict severe 
punishment upon each other in case one attempts to 
infringe upon the rights of the other. 

Wage-earners, as a rule, can insure peace 'between 
themselves and the corporations employing them by 
being in a position, at all times, to inflict severe punish- 



MAINTENANCE-OF-WAY EMPLOYEES 443 

ment upon any corporation that refuses to consider griev- 
ances and to make reasonable concessions. Working- 
men should never make unreasonable demands upon their 
employers. Men who contend that capital is an enemy to 
labor are not worth anything to society ; they retard 
progress. If men of industrious and frugal habits accu- 
mulate wealth by fair methods, and provide ways and 
means for others to work under fair conditions, they are 
benefactors. - 

An employee who is not loyal to his employer, when 
receiving fair wages and working under fair conditions, 
is not honest. It is not an uncommon thing to hear 
maintenance-of-way men say that railway officials are 
partial towards men engaged in the train service. There 
is absolutely no truth in it. Men engaged in operating 
trains have made many sacrifices, expended much money, 
and used their brains in defense of their rights. Until 
maintenance-of-way employees learn to do likewise they 
will not receive the same consideration from employers, 
because nature's law has provided that men must win 
spurs before they are entitled to wear them. 

In conclusion, I wish to impress upon the minds of the 
delegates present that upon you rests the responsibility 
for whatever may be done at this convention, and upon 
your wisdom at this time largely depends our progress 
during the next two years. I would, therefore, urge you 
to give your best thoughts and your best energies to the 
work in hand, laying aside all matters of personal inter- 
est, and looking only to the welfare of the Brotherhood. 
Remember that he is most worthy of emulation who sac- 
rifices most in behalf of a worthy cause. As the repre- 
sentatives of a class whose struggles have been hard for 
many years, and upon whom a brighter hope is just 
beginning to dawn, we would be unworthy of the confi- 



444 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

dence reposed in us by our constituents, and untrue to 
our own best interests, if we should bring into this body, 
or allow to be brought into it, any issue or question for- 
eign to our collective interests and to the aims of our 
Brotherhood, which might destroy the harmony and the 
usefulness of this gathering. We know no North, no 
South, no East, no West, no separation of interests be- 
cause of the different governments under which our 
brothers live and to which they owe a cheerful allegiance. 
We assume no authority over and tolerate no interference 
with the inalienable rights of our members to affiliate 
with any party, to adopt any creed, or to live in any section 
of country that they themselves may choose, and he who 
would seek to inject into our Order any of these issues, 
either to advance his own interests or to prejudice the 
interests of another, is an enemy of our Order, unworthy 
of our confidence and our friendship. By our conduct 
we must prove to the world that we are capable of meet- 
ing as brothers and transacting our business as men. 
With the utmost confidence in your ability and your dis- 
cretion, I now declare this Convention ready for business. 



AN ADDRESS 

BY MRS. ALICE C. MULKEY, INTERNATIONAL GRAND PRESI- 
DENT OF THE AUXILIARY 

Grand President and Delegates: We come before 
you to-day as wives of Maintenance-of-Way employees 
to extend fraternal greeting, and to tell you that we have 
fashioned an auxiliary craft which is now upon the ways. 
We ask that you permit us to co-operate with you under 



MAINTENANCE-OF-WAY EMPLOYEES 445 

such restrictions and conditions as you gentlemen may 
impose, and we ask your assistance in launching our 
auxiliary, if it be your pleasure that it should be launched. 
Our position may seem somewhat paradoxical, in that 
we offer assistance while seeking aid, but there are many 
paradoxes in this life, and especially is this true with 
reference to the toiling masses who create all the wealth 
of the world, but enjoy only a few of the pleasures and 
privileges which wealth can give ; who build palaces, but 
live in tenements ; who build and maintain railways, but 
seldom see the interior of a passenger coach and never 
ride in a Pullman or a Wagner car; who dig from the 
earth its hidden treasures, but go ragged to work in the 
morning and hungry to bed at night. It is an easy thing 
to launch a lifeboat, but when a strong and stately vessel 
is wrecked upon the breakers and the foam-flecked bil- 
lows roll high and fierce the unpretentious craft will 
come to its relief and ship its cargo of human freight in 
perfect safety to the harbor of rest. We would make our 
auxiliary a feeder to your Brotherhood by agitating the 
principles and proclaiming the benefits of co-operation 
among the wives and daughters of your fellow-crafts- 
men who have not yet had those principles properly im- 
pressed upon their minds, and have, therefore, been 
unable to comprehend the various channels through 
which the benefits of organization can come. I presume 
that the instances are not a few wherein the wife's oppo- 
sition was more a hindrance to the husband becoming a 
member of your Brotherhood than was the opposition of 
the officials of the company by which he was employed. 
Every such barrier as this that we can remove from your 
pathway will facilitate the growth of your Brotherhood, 
just as the raising of low joints facilitates the speed of 
trains which pass over your respective sections. When 



44 6 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

the home-keeper realizes that it will mean more comforts 
for herself and the little ones to whose care and welfare 
her life and energies are dedicated if the husband and 
father joins the union of his craft and fights like a valiant 
soldier in defense of home and loved ones, your organ- 
izers will not have to extend a second invitation to that 
man to get his application. If the wives of men employed 
in the maintenance-of-way department can successfully 
launch an auxiliary organization, as the wives of other 
classes of railway employees have done, the attention of 
the railway officials may be more forcibly drawn than 
ever before to the fact that these men have wives and 
children, and that they are justly entitled to receive suffi- 
cient wages for their work to supply their families with 
the necessaries of life. Our Woman's Auxiliary will not 
let the officials forget that your wages are far lower than 
they ought to be, and it will be of incalculable assistance 
to you in all your efforts to get your wages increased. 

Another way in which we can greatly benefit your 
Brotherhood is by helping you to keep your organization 
and your grievances constantly before the public. Presi- 
dent Roosevelt has said that the best way to destroy the 
criminal trusts is to give publicity to their methods. 
The best way to help a struggling people get relief when 
they are groaning under the yoke of oppression is to 
give publicity to the virtues of the oppressed, and to the 
merciless and inhuman deeds of their oppressors. Public 
sympathy is one of the most potent agencies on which the 
supporters of a just cause can rely when engaged in a 
conflict with greed and avarice. Public sympathy was 
your most powerful ally in the greatest struggle through 
which you have ever passed, but even that would have 
been unavailing had it not been that your standard-bearer 



MAINTENANCE-OF-WAY EMPLOYEES 447 

would rather have died than lower your colors and your 
soldiers would rather have died than desert. 

It is said that in one of Napoleon's greatest battles, 
when the odds seemed heavily against him, and his army 
was wavering under the telling fire of the superior forces 
of his enemy, he called to his drummer boy and com- 
manded him to beat a retreat. " Oh, sire/' said the boy, 
" I never learned to beat a retreat ; but if you will only 
give the word I will beat a charge that will spur the men 
on to victory." The word was given and victory was 
won. If you will give us the recognition we ask, and 
assist us with our organization until we are old enough 
as such to remove our swaddling clothes, if we can do 
nothing more to aid you, we will keep before you the 
lesson and the inspiration of Napoleon's drummer boy, 
and at times when you may feel that the tide of battle is 
against you we will beat the charge that will turn defeat 
into victory. 

Through our efforts to advance the interests of- your 
Brotherhood we will bring to your wives and daughters 
a practical education along lines with which they are not 
now familiar. In our lodge rooms they will learn how 
deliberative bodies are conducted, how their members 
are governed, how their records are kept, and their busi- 
ness transacted. They will also learn to overcome that 
natural timidity which is such a great handicap to many 
young women who have to make their own way in the 
world, and from taking part in the discussions which will 
come up in our lodges they will learn to speak well in 
public. 

Why should not the wives and daughters of track- 
men have these advantages, and the advantage of social 
intercourse with kindred spirits, as well as the wives 
and daughters of other men holding higher positions? 



44-8 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Yes, higher positions, as the world judges, but there 
are none more honorable than the position of the man 
who earns his bread in the sweat of his brow, and I 
assure you, gentlemen, that I feel greatly honored in 
being permitted to address you on a subject which deeply 
concerns us all. 

In speaking to a body of representative working- 
men I speak to those whose hopes, aspirations, and 
sympathies are in perfect accord with my own, for, 
although I have been spared many of the unpleasant 
experiences which have been told through the columns 
of your official journal, my hands are not strangers to the 
arduous labors that devolve upon the keeper of a work- 
ingman's home, and the mother of a workingman's chil- 
dren, and I often thank God that it is my privilege to 
devote my energies to labor in a worthy and honorable 
occupation, instead of being an idle parasite, feeding 
upon .the fruits of other people's industry. We often 
come in contact with persons who, because they are not 
obliged to work for a daily wage, speak contemptuously 
of those who labor, feeling themselves superior to the 
objects of their contumely; but Bryan was right when he 
said that " The extremes of society are not as far apart 
as they appear. 

Those who work for wages to-day may, under a 
good government, be employers in a few years, and 
the sons of those who are employers to-day may in 
a short time become day laborers. Those who are well- 
to-do have a selfish interest, and should feel a moral con- 
cern in removing despair from every human breast. Why 
should the man who eats at a well-supplied table forget 
the man whose toil furnishes the food ? Why should the 
man who warms himself by the fire forget the man whose 
labor in the forest or in the mine brings forth the fuel? 



MAINTENANCE-OF-WAY EMPLOYEES 449 

Shall the rosebud blooming in beauty and shedding its 
fragrance on the air despise the roots of the bush because 
they come in actual contact with the soil? Destroy the 
bud and leave the roots, and another bud will appear as 
beautiful and as fragrant as the first, but destroy the 
roots, and bud and bush will perish/' 

I would like to talk longer on this subject, but a due 
regard for the financial condition of the class you repre- 
sent impels me to be brief. The money which pays the 
expenses of your assemblage here is wrung by hard labor 
and in small dribs from great and wealthy corporations, 
and I would hardly have dared to encroach one minute 
upon your time were it not that I and the other ladies 
before you have become thoroughly convinced that we 
can aid you in removing many of the obstructions which 
stand between you and the corporation strong boxes 
which hold so much of what is justly yours, because your 
labor put in there. 

In conclusion, I will say that in launching our aux- 
iliary we do not feel that we are embarking upon an 
unknown sea, without chart or compass to guide us, 
but, on the contrary, the beaten paths of the ocean of 
fraternity are filled with sails of auxiliary ships, and the 
value of such auxiliaries have been proclaimed by every 
Fraternal Order worthy of the name, as well as by the 
most influential labor organizations of the land, and for 
that reason we come before you with every confidence 
that our request will be granted, and that we will be 
mutually helpful to each other. We know, also, that we 
are not embarking upon a pleasure tour during which we 
are to take no thought of anything but enjoyment. 
Neither do we expect to drift aimlessly about, propelled 
only by the trade winds and the tides. A thought beauti- 



45° THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

fully expressed by Read in his poem, " Drifting," may be 
used to illustrate our idea on this point : 

Yon deep bark goes where traffic blows 
From lands of sun to lands of snows. 
This happier one its course is run 
From lands of snow to lands of sun. 

We expect to ei counter many chilling blasts, but with 
undaunted courage we expect to meet and surmount the 
obstacles that lie in our course, and finally we hope for 
the blessings that come from unselfish efforts to advance 
a noble cause. 



AN ADDRESS 

BY BROTHER B. K. WAGNER, AT GAINESVILLE LODGE, NO. 204 

Mr. President and Brothers: I think you made a 
poor selection when you chose me to address you on this 
occasion on some subject pertaining to the good of the 
Order. I am in that particular like the famous Georgia 
evangelist, Sam P. Jones — first, I am always saying 
something; second, you can never tell whether it is good 
or bad, or whether it will benefit the cause for which I 
speak until after I have said it. But I hope on this occa- 
sion what little I say may be for the good of the Order ; 
may serve to awaken an interest among its workers. 
Then let us first consider what our Order is and for what 
purpose it was organized ; what is its mission, and from 
whence it derives its support; what benefits we derive 
from uniting ourselves with it, and what our duties are 
as members. 



MAINTENANCE-OF-WA Y EMPLO YEES 45 1 

It is an organization of maintenance-of-way em- 
ployees ; an organization of the very mudsills, as it were, 
of the great railway lines that cross and recross this 
country — not only of the great lines, but each and every 
line, both great and small. We must blaze the way ; must 
come before and build these roads. We are the pioneers. 
All other railway employees are dependent upon this, the 
first act of the maintenance-of-way employees. We lead 
the way; others follow. 

Our Brotherhood was organized for the purpose of 
advancing the interest and promoting the welfare of an 
over-worked and under-paid class of railway employees. 
It seeks to shorten the hours of labor, raise the standard 
of pay, and place the maintenance-of-way employees of 
these great railway systems in a position to not only ask 
for, but get, fair compensation for the labor they perform, 
to enable them to educate their children and provide for 
their welfare in case of sickness or death; to place them 
in a position whereby they can feel and realize that they 
are free-born American citizens and slaves to no one. 
Its mission is, therefore, one of humanity. It lays within 
our reach the means of providing for our wives and little 
ones, in case of misfortune or death, without paying 
tribute to some insurance trust to do so. It teaches the 
good old biblical doctrine of " Love and help one 
another." It seeks to elevate us in every respect. It 
teaches us to revere the principles of humanity, respect 
the laws of our country, honor the government under 
which we live, and believe in a Supreme Ruler of the 
universe, " who doeth all things well." It makes better 
men of us morally, mentally, financially, and socially. It 
tends to increase our ability, that we may serve our em- 
ployers more skillfully ; better morally, that we may enjoy 
more of the confidence of the communitv in which we 



452 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

live; better mentally, that we may take upon ourselves 
more of the burdens of citizenship with confidence and 
ability ; better financially, that we may enjoy more of life's 
comforts and pleasures, and have less of its hardships 
than we have received in the past. It exacts a binding 
obligation of each of us that we should feel proud to 
assume and live up to — to watch over and care for a 
brother or a brother's family should misfortune overtake 
him or necessity require. This is a humane principle, 
imbued with the consecrated spirit of the meek and lowly 
Nazarene, and no one should blush to call it the first com- 
mand of his Order, and the fountain-head from which all 
unselfish deeds must flow. It throws a protecting arm 
around your family and is uplifting in its influence. 

It derives its support from you and I. There is no 
other way — you and I must foot the bill. Let us not 
think like the Kansas farmer, " that the government must 
support the people." The people must support the gov- 
ernment, good or bad, or have no government. It guar- 
antees to protect him in his rights as a citizen under the 
laws — but he must help foot the bills. 

The same is true of our Order. It cannot support us. 
We must support it. But it is the medium through which 
we may lighten our burdens, increase our pay, and seek 
the justice we have long been denied. We must pay our 
dues and assessments promptly, and give encouragement 
to it in every possible way. Our Order is what you and I 
make it. Its strength and stability depend upon us. Each 
individual member represents a spoke in the wheel, and 
according to the timber of which he is made depends the 
strength of the spoke. The day may come when the 
wheel will be tested ; when it will be loaded to its capacity. 
Then its weak spots will be found. It, therefore, becomes 
our duty to constantly inspect it, repair the weak spots, 



MAINTENANCE-OF-WAY EMPLOYEES 453 

improve its condition, and place good timber in the weak 
and dangerous places. There is no better safeguard 
against trouble, such as a strike, or the necessity for one, 
than a strong membership and a full treasury, with wise, 
cool-headed, and conservative leadership. 

As I have said before, the Order cannot support us — 
we must support it; but it is the medium through which 
we can better our conditions and accomplish results. We 
of the A. C. L., and you of the S. A. L., have already 
helped ourselves through the medium to the extent I have 
mentioned. 

The I. B. M. W. E. also provides us a means of carry- 
ing $1000 life insurance, just as safe and much cheaper 
than any other reliable company doing business in this 
country to-day. 

These are a few of the benefits we derive from this 
organization ; and this is only the beginning if we but live 
true to our obligations and faithful to our duty. I am 
now ready to proclaim this as one of the grandest labor 
organizations of the day. One of the grandest and best, 
because it seeks to elevate a class of railway employees 
long oppressed ; a class that is ever to the front when it 
comes to labor, hardship, or endurance, but the very last 
on the pay-rolls or when courtesies and considerations 
are passed around. Best, because it is founded on the 
principles of justice and right and recognizes the rights 
of others. 

It was born of oppression, fostered by poverty, and 
cradled in adversity. Its birthplace (if I mistake not) 
was in a dirt and smoke-begrimed shanty in my native 
State. 

Its nurse at this time, and through all the years of its 
tottering infancy, was John T. Wilson. He has been its 
ever faithful guide and protector. With unerring judg- 



454 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

merit he has brought it through all the storms of 
adversity to its present strength and prosperity, and 
to-day, in the first flush of its young manhood, it turns 
still to him for counsel and advice, for the direction of 
his guiding finger, and it turns not in vain. He built 
our craft and launched it upon unsurveyed and dangerous 
waters. He braved the tempest and dared to pilot it 
through all the winding channels into calmer seas with 
clearer skies, with what success we can all answer. She 
has crossed the outer bar, and to-day sails upon the broad 
bosom of the sea of prosperity. Success sits shining 
upon her sails and lights the way. To-day it is safe to 
say that on that Sunday afternoon, in that Alabama sec- 
tion shanty where the first steps of our organization were 
taken, " the occasion and the man " had met. John T. 
Wilson has been faithful to his every duty. His has 
been the eye and hand of a true and faithful pilot, and 
should not be forgotten when prosperity comes to us, 
or when the march of time leaves its footprints upon his 
face or the white blossoms upon his head gives evidence 
that the evening of a well spent life has been reached. 

Brothers, in view of what this man has done for the 
Order and through the Order for every American main- 
tenance-of-way employee (for its influence is bound to 
reach them all), what little is required of you and I seems 
insignificant. We should, therefore, be ever ready to 
fulfill these requirements. We should ever strive to be 
better men in every sense the term implies ; educate our- 
selves by reading good literature ; keep posted and abreast 
of the times — know what is taking place in the world; 
be not only willing, but able and ready at all times to 
take the side of justice and fair dealing; be no longer 
content to live in ignorance and without knowing who, 
why, or how it was done, and allow those who may be 



MAINTENANCE-OF-WAY EMPLOYEES 455 

unscrupulous enough and are in authority to juggle with 
your rights and privileges and barter away your liberty. 
Let the legislators who make and the judges who inter- 
pret the laws know that your eyes are upon them, and 
that you are capable of understanding their actions and 
of appreciating the stand they take upon every important 
question that affects your interests. No man has a 
right to complain of bad laws, bad government, or any- 
thing else, who sits idly by and makes no effort to 
correct them, but who leaves it all to others. Intelligence 
is food for prosperity ; ignorance is its foe ; and it applies 
with equal if not greater force to-day to labor organiza- 
tions than to any other. 

To-day is a day of unionism. It is marching surely 
and steadily to the front, with ever-increasing speed and 
numbers. It permeates every trade, every profession, 
and every calling. From the millionaire to the boot- 
black, all have their unions of some kind — one for the 
oppression and the other for the upbuilding of humanity. 
To-day labor unions could, if they but realized it, control 
many of the industries of this country ; could force them 
to employ union labor and also to pay a just and living 
wage. Suppose that every union man should refuse to 
purchase or consume any manufactured article that was 
not sold under the union label. How long do you sup- 
pose the manufacturer of any common article of con- 
sumption could do business without it? The manufac- 
turers of this country are not fools ; they are shrew T d 
business men. Labor has been the " Rip Van Winkle " 
of the nineteenth century, but it is awakening, and when 
once it awakes and finds out where it is, and realizes its 
power, there will be another awakening in this country, 
and none know this better than the great corporations 
that for years have oppressed labor and have accumu- 



456 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

lated millions that should, at least, have been more equally 
divided with the labor that produced it. They dread the 
day when the labor organizations realize their strength 
and power, and are more reasonable and less arrogant 
than ever before, lest they create some fight that would 
develop the power of organized labor. 

And to-day they realize that they must appreciate their 
position, and place as manager, superintendents, etc., in 
charge of their business men who have ability and 
judgment, who can see the situation as it is and make 
the best of it. The days of the superintendent and road- 
master with nothing but arrogance and kinship to 
recommend him, with no " con " for his employers, and 
no judgment and ability, are numbered. They must 
soon go. The march of progress demands it. The 
better element of the country is with us — the press and 
the pulpit; those that are not soon will be forced out 
of business. To-day the political leaders of the nation 
consult with the most prominent leaders of organized 
labor on every question that arises affecting organized 
labor. They are the first, too, to make an effort to settle 
every trouble that arises between organized labor and 
organized capital, if it threatens to be serious. This 
has not always been — why is it so to-day ? Whence this 
change? Because of the growth of unionism, and be- 
cause they have been the first to realize its power and 
possibility. 

Brothers, it is no longer a question of debate with us 
whether unionism is good for us or not. It has already 
proven its case and has been decided without chance 
of appeal. Dante, the poet who leads us through all 
the horrors of the infernal regions, places this inscrip- 
tion over the gates of the Inferno, " Leave hope behind, 
all ye that enter here ! " and the day is not far distant 



MAINTENANCE-OF-WAY EMPLOYEES 457 

when the same inscription in another form will be placed 
over the doors of unionism. It will then read, " Leave 
hope behind, all ye who do not enter here." It is your 
only hope in this world of selfishness and commercial 
oppression. There are, at least, two classes of men who 
would deny to you the right to organize for your own 
protection and welfare. One of these deserves your pity 
and compassion, for they are fools and know no better. 
The other is a class whose opposition arises from a spirit 
of selfishness and lust. " It knows no pity." You and 
your children are valuable only in their eyes as your labor 
can be coined into dollars and cents to swell their already 
overburdened bank account. They would, if possible, 
deny to you the right to breathe, if you could live and 
labor without it, and they could turn the air you breathe 
into profit for their own selfish purpose. This is the 
class that forces us to organize — the class that makes 
it not only to our interest, but absolutely necessary, to 
become organized. They are organized themselves, and 
have a monopoly upon almost everything except the right 
to organize, and I have no doubt would like to monopo- 
lize this privilege. 

There are supposed to be in New York City to-day 
about 1350 millionaires, besides those at other places in 
this country. Twenty years ago there were only 294 in 
New York City, and 100 years ago none. John Jacob 
Astor, who was the first man in New York City to ac- 
cumulate so much, became a millionaire about eighty 
years ago. 

It is safe to say that a great per cent, of this accumu- 
lated wealth has dropped from the brow of labor in beads 
of sweat. This country is no Eldorado, where money 
grows upon the trees. The Spaniards had this delusion 
400 years ago, and many of them perished by the way- 



45^ THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

side in an effort to find this gold-bearing forest. To-day 
these millionaires set themselves up as the chosen people 
of God and the thoroughbreds of the human family. 
But it is the candid opinion of many honest, thinking 
men (as once voiced by a noted Kentucky editor) that 
their influence is the most debasing that comes in con- 
tact with the American people to-day. They pilfer the 
profits of labor, debauch the country, and by their lives 
rob virtue of its innocence. Goldsmith, perhaps, had 
visions of such when he wrote : 

" 111 fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, 
Where wealth accumulates and men decay.' , 

But, my brothers, the world is not all bad. There are 
good men of wealth, ability, and education. They can be 
found on every occasion battling for the cause of justice 
and right. The American revolution produced its Wash- 
ington — but there is a revolution going on in this country 
to-day, more peaceful, but more far-reaching than that 
of Washington and the patriots, and just as sure of 
success. Let us be patient and persevering, for it will 
come. Be careful in the selection of your officers. Place 
in all your responsible positions men of integrity and 
ability ; men of good, sound judgment, who are cool- 
headed and conservative, who do not become excited and 
are, therefore, able at all times to make the best of every 
situation that arises. Then let us keep faith with the 
railroads strictly in whatever agreements our com- 
mittees may make for us. If they are not what we 
would like to have, that is all the more reason why 
we should live up to them. Then try to make better 
conditions in the next one by showing to the railroad 
officials that we can be dealt with in this manner with 
the certainty that we will keep faith with our agree- 



MAINTENANCE-OF-WAY EMPLOYEES 459 

ments. A fiery or hot-headed man should never be 
placed in a position to do us harm. We need, perhaps, 
their physical courage, but we need moral courage and 
good, sound judgment at all times, and these a hot- 
headed man sometimes forgets. I have said enough and 
must thank you for your attention. 



INTELLIGENT CO-OPERATION 

The International Brotherhood of Maintenance-of- 
Way Employees is a fraternal and co-operative associa- 
tion. It was instituted for the benefit and protection of 
Maintenance-of-Way employees of North American rail- 
ways. The I. B. M. W. E. has, perhaps, had more diffi- 
culties to contend with than almost any other organiza- 
tion composed of railway men, but its achievements are 
a source of pleasure to its founder and to those who were 
pioneers in the movement, for through its efforts many 
millions of dollars have been added to the yearly incomes 
of the humble employees in whose behalf the Order was 
established. Not only have their wages been increased 
on every railroad in the country where system organiza- 
tions have been formed and properly accredited com- 
mittees sent to present the wishes of the men to the man- 
agement, but in several instances railway officials have 
granted increased pay to Maintenance-of-Way employees 
almost immediately after discovering that they were 
being organized. The work-days have been shortened, 
thus giving the employees more time for rest and recrea- 
tion; more time for pleasure and mental development. 
Instead of working " from sun to sun," as was formerly 
the rule on almost every American railway, and in cases 
of emergency working nights and Sundays without extra 
pay, track department employees now have the length of 



4-6o THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

their working day established by agreement (usually 10 
hours), and are paid for all overtime at rates above the 
fixed rate of daily wages. On most of the roads sec- 
tion foremen are furnished suitable houses to live in, 
rent free, and where it is not convenient to furnish 
desirable houses to the foremen a cash allowance is made 
therefor and added to the monthly pay checks. Many 
privileges are also set forth in their agreements which 
our craftsmen had previously received very sparingly, 
if at all, such as free transportation, leaves of absence, 
etc. A clause of great value, which cannot be measured 
in dollars and cents, is inserted in every agreement so 
far obtained, which guarantees a fair and impartial in- 
vestigation into every case where a member is unjustly 
discharged or discriminated against by a minor official 
of the employing company, and where it is proven that 
the employee is unjustly discharged he must be reinstated 
in his former position and given full pay for time lost 
during the investigation. In cases of promotion the 
men longest in the service are given preference, qualifica- 
tions, of course, being taken into consideration. The list 
of benefits which the Brotherhood has secured for our 
craftsmen could be continued almost indefinitely, but 
space will not permit in this article, as we wish to say 
a few words about those whose faith and fortitude have 
helped so much to bring about the good results that have 
been accomplished, and those whose unmanly conduct has 
impeded our efforts. It seems to be one of the inex- 
orable laws of life that those who are most deserving are 
not always the best rewarded, and it is equally true that 
some who are too venal or too cowardly to fight for any 
cause are first to share the fruits of victory, and while 
there are a few of our time-tried veterans who have 
been faithful to their obligations through all the changes 



MAINTENANCE-OF-WAY EMPLOYEES 461 

and vicissitudes to which our organization has been sub- 
jected since it was first launched in 1887, whose fidelity 
has not been as well rewarded as we could wish, we 
have had more than our share of experience with camp- 
followers who hide in the brush when danger threatens, 
but boldly, yes, brazenly, accept a full share of what has 
been gained by the sacrifices and sufferings of others, and, 
be it said to their shame, they seem to take pride in 
their baseness. They even boast that they are " smart 
enough to get the game without wasting their powder." 
In other words, they have shared in the increased wages 
without contributing to the support of the organization 
which wrested the increase from unwilling corporations. 
Time will come when such men will have no share in 
the benefits produced by the efforts of our Brotherhood, 
but until then we will leave them to the mercy of public 
opinion and their own conscience — if they have any. 

Great as have been the achievements of the Brother- 
hood during its comparatively short existence, much 
more could have been accomplished in the way of im- 
proved conditions of service for our fellow-craftsmen 
but for the impatience of some who have sought mem- 
bership in the Order with the expectation that their 
wages would be increased immediately after their ini- 
tiation, without further effort upon their part, or even 
the formality of sending a committee to ask for the raise ; 
and when they found that such was not the case they not 
only dropped out of the Order, but did much to dis- 
courage others from coming in. Getting results from 
organization is like getting results from farming. The 
seed must be planted and the growing crop must be 
carefully cultivated before the matured grain is ready for 
the harvest, and if, in our eagerness, we apply the sickle 
too soon, our labor is lost and our hopes blighted. 



462 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Every man who joins a labor union should have one 
predominating purpose always in mind, to wit, to help 
his fellow-craftsmen improve their conditions of service 
and their standard of living, to contribute his full share 
to the support of his organization, and to enjoy his full 
share of the benefits that united effort may bring. That 
is the true purpose of organization, and only by its 
faithful application can the best results be obtained. The 
man who looks only to self-interest is not a valuable, or 
even a desirable, member of a labor union. He is apt 
to betray his associates in the hope of furthering his own 
selfish ends. It is such men that occasionally bring re- 
proach upon the labor movement. The man who is 
steadfast in principle and purpose is the pride of the 
union cause. He glories in its triumphs and sympa- 
thizes with its defeats, but he always remains loyal to his 
union. He is not in it for revenue only, but because it is 
right, and the consciousness of having done right is 
the highest of earthly rewards. But aside from the 
satisfaction of having done right, it always pays to 
affiliate with organized labor. There never were so many 
unions and wages were never so high in this country 
as at present, and in sections where unionism is strongest 
the highest wage standards prevail. 

One of the greatest essentials to successful unionism 
is discipline. A union must have good laws for its 
government and the laws must be rigidly enforced by 
its officers. The officers must be men of strong character, 
great courage, and sound judgment. With such laws and 
such officers, obeyed, respected, and supported by the 
membership, the best possible results can be obtained, and 
union principles and union men will gain the highest 
esteem of all classes of intelligent society. 

Advance Advocate. 



MYSTIC WORKERS OF THE WORLD 

Historical. — This Order began in a preliminary meeting at 
Fulton, Illinois, September 15, 1891, when W. H. Clinton, of 
Paris, Illinois, and five others met and elected a body of officers, 
W. H. Clinton being elected Supreme Master, and arrange- 
ments were made to complete the preliminary work of organ- 
ization and meet December 28 following. At the adjourned 
meeting a code of laws and ritual were adopted. 

From this beginning the society increased in numbers and 
strength, and in 1902 was able to report a membership of 17,616, 
with insurance in force amounting to $26,977,900. The report 
of the Supreme Master presented in June, 1902, declared that 
the expenditures for death and disability benefits during the 
biennial period then closed were $204,150. 



ADDRESS OF WELCOME* 

BY GEORGE N. HOLT. 

Worthy Supreme Master and Worthies of the Supreme 

Lodge of Mystic Workers: 

It is a great pleasure, and I esteem it a rare privilege, 
to stand before you and in behalf of the Rockford lodges 
to welcome the Supreme Lodge of the Mystic Workers to 
our city. Rockford is a city of which we are very proud, 
and it is dear to the hearts of all of us, but never have we 
been prouder than at this time, when it has the honor of 
being the meeting-place of this body. The idea of fra- 
ternity is as old as the human family. It was first hon- 

* Before Supreme Lodge in session in Rockford, 111., in behalf 
of the local lodges. 

463 



464 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

ored in the punishment meted out to and the contumely 
heaped upon a man named Cain, who, I believe, was 
guilty of the first infraction of its laws. Since that time 
the idea of fraternity and brotherhood among men has 
grown and expanded, until to-day it is life's most radiant 
gem, a briliant star making luminous hope's pathway. 

In recent years there has been marked development 
of the fraternal idea in the form of societies made up of 
the best people, and having as their object the social de- 
velopment of the members, and, by means of insurance, 
the protection of their homes and loved ones. In the 
midst of fraternal orders none has been more promi- 
nently before the people in the last few years than has the 
Mystic Workers of the World. 

This Order had its inception only six years ago, and 
its beginnings were humble indeed. It had behind it no 
powerful influences, no sustaining force, only the inhe- 
rent merit of its principles and the unwavering loyalty and 
devotion of a few men whom we, as Mystics, delight to 
honor. They gave freely of their time in days when there 
could be no adequate reward, and when the future was 
not unfolded even to the eyes of the most sanguine. As 
a result of the hard work of these men this Order has 
had a great growth, which, all things considered, is the 
most remarkable in the history of Fraternalism, so that 
to-day there are enrolled beneath its banner many thou- 
sands of stalwart men and loyal women, and in more than 
five hundred communities there have been established 
lodges for those who would insure the welfare of their 
homes a fairer assurance and a brighter hope. 

And to you, Worthies of the Supreme Lodge, is en- 
trusted a most important mission. You are here assem- 
bled from many States, representing, possibly, diverse 
interests and views. Into your hands has been given the 



MYSTIC WORKERS OF THE WORLD 4 6 5 

task of legislating for the future. The members of your 
Lodges have entrusted their most sacred interests to you, 
knowing that in so doing they have placed them in a safe 
and secure keeping, for their interests and yours are iden- 
tical. The Mystic Workers of the World occupy a for- 
tunate position. Its founders gave laws which have 
guided it in paths of prosperity, and if they made any 
mistakes we are still in the period of youth where changes 
can be made without causing too great a strain. To-day 
you are entering upon the active work of a session that is 
of the utmost importance to the Order. That you will 
well and faithfully discharge your trust is confidently 
believed by every one of the thousands of Mystic Work- 
ers who are at home awaiting the result of your action 
here. Meeting as you do, and honoring our city as you 
have, it gives me pleasure to extend to you the warmest 
and most cordial welcome of our hearts. 



RESPONSE 

BY SUPREME MASTER HOWE. 

I wish to thank you and the City of Rockford and 
the local Lodges for your hearty and generous welcome. 
It affords me extreme pleasure to respond to so warm a 
welcome, and although mere words may not voice the 
fullness of our gratitude for your reception to-day, I can 
assure you that our hearts are all aglow with fraternal 
love for those who received us to-day. 

I am not here to speak of myself, but to speak for an 
Order that no longer wears the garb of an infant, but has 
grown to the stature of a full-grown brother among the 



466 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

fraternal orders of our prosperous land. I speak for the 
young and growing Order, the Mystic Workers of the 
World. 

Our Order was chartered on the 24th day of Febru- 
ary, 1896, with 548 loyal members. We have paid 549 
benefit claims of every nature in the sum of about $350,- 
000, and now have probably twenty thousand members. 
It affords me great pleasure to think back a few years, 
when we met in the old college building in the City of 
Fulton, and, I well recall, with 18 delegates and the 
supreme officers, and now to think that we are being wel- 
comed by the mayor of this great City of Rockford. We 
have grown to these proportions, my Worthies, because 
we have principles, and honest principles. Our assess- 
ments are made in candor and the utmost good faith. 
Actual losses examined, legitimate expenses kept at the 
minimum, every member is a cheerful giver, for when 
asked to meet his assessment he knows it will soon go 
into the hands of some deserving brother or sister, or 
someone who depends upon them. Charity is the chief 
object of the future, so proclaimed through all the world, 
so recorded in every language, and proclaimed in every 
tongue. To give charity on an honest basis, and protect 
it with honest purposes, and guard it against dishonest 
surroundings, is our purpose and aim. As an Order, as 
members, as agents, and servants, one and all, we con- 
gratulate ourselves to-day. With charity as our object 
and honesty as our guide, it will not be long until our 
Order will stand in the van and lead the procession. 

Once more I thank you. 



MYSTIC WORKERS OF THE WORLD 4 6 7 



INVOCATIONS * 

BY REV. SNYDER 

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, in Thy strength 
we are strong, in Thy wisdom we are wise. We re- 
joice in Thee and Thy majesty, in Thy might, in Thy 
kingdom that hath no end. Let Thy will be done on 
earth as in Heaven. We rejoice, our Father, that Thou 
hast not left Thyself without witness, but that Thou 
hast revealed Thyself unto men, and they have recog- 
nized Thee as Father, and we have come to look upon 
one another as brothers. We thank Thee, our -Father, 
for the revelation of the spirit of brotherhood in the 
world. We thank Thee for the spirit of brotherhood 
which recognizes one as master, even Christ, and all as 
brethren. We thank Thee for the manifestation of the 
fraternal spirit, and we pray that that spirit may be mani- 
fested in this convention. We pray every word spoken, 
every deed done, may be done in the spirit of those who 
would bear one another's burdens, and make life better 
and more blessed for one another. We pray that unto us 
may be given a true sense of duty and readiness to serve 
and to bless and to help, and so we pray that the days 
that we spend here may be so lived, that our work may 
be so done, that our lives shall be so spent, that we shall 
meet at last in true brotherhood in the Heavenly kingdom. 
We ask it through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

*At the opening sessions of the Supreme Lodge of Mystic 
Workers of the World. 



468 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

BY WORTHY BROTHER PALMER 

Almighty God, we adore Thee this morning. We 
praise Thy holy name. We worship at Thy footstool. 
We thank Thee for the blessings which we have received 
from Thee in the past, for the blessings of this morn- 
ing; for the friendships we have formed in life and 
since coming here. We thank Thee for these associa- 
tions, and we pray this morning that the bonds that 
now unite us in friendship may become stronger each 
succeeding day. We ask Thee to direct us in the con- 
duct of business this day. May wisdom and harmony 
prevail. May everything be done in such a way as 
shall indicate that feeling of brotherly love that should 
exist between us, and we believe that this work in 
which we are engaged is a good work and Thy bless- 
ing is upon it, and we believe, our Father, that it is 
Thy desire that this work should continue now, that we 
may bring comfort to many homes of sorrow, to many 
over whom the great pall of darkness has settled as in 
despair they have sat at the bier of the loved one ; we 
believe ft is Thy will that we should come with help and 
comfort to such homes, as we have in the past. Continue 
to guide us as we speak in this meeting, and, O God, keep 
us in the right path. Watch over the families of our 
loved ones, and at last may we all be members of the 
great brotherhood which shall be united about Thy foot- 
stool in the other land. We ask it in Jesus' name. 
Amen. 



PART III 
REFORMATORY 

AND 

RELIGIOUS FRATERNITIES 



SONS OP TEMPERANCE 

Historical. — The Order of the Sons of Temperance was insti- 
tuted in Teetotalers' Hall, at No. 71 Division Street, in the city 
of New York, on Thursday evening, September 29, 1842, by six- 
teen gentlemen who had met there by special invitation of ten of 
their number. The object of the meeting, as stated in the cir- 
cular of invitation, was to organize a beneficial society based on 
total abstinence. 

At this first meeting Daniel H. Sands was appointed Chair- 
man, and John W. Oliver, Secretary. The first action of the 
meeting after its organization was the adoption of a resolution 
offered by Thomas Edgerly (who remained true to the great 
principles of the Order he helped to form until called to his 
final reward), as follows: 

11 Resolved, That we now form a society, to be called 'New 
York Division No. 1, Sons of Temperance/ " 

A constitution was at once adopted and signed by the immortal 
sixteen. Their names are : Daniel H. Sands, John W. Oliver, 
William B. Tompkins, James Bale, Edward Brusle, Isaac J. 
Oliver, Thomas Edgerly, George McKibbin, Joseph K. Barr, 
Thomas Swenarton, F. W. Wolfe, J. H. Elliott, John McKellar, 
John Holman, Henry Lloyd, and E. L. Snow. 

Thus, then and there, was instituted the Order of the Sons of 
Temperance, with its motto of principles : Love, Purity, and 
Fidelity. It had a small beginning, but its growth was rapid and 
far exceeded the most sanguine anticipations of its most sanguine 
founders. In the years of its existence it has, unaided by 
wealthy, powerful, or influential patrons, extended its beneficent 
sway into every part of the globe where the English language is 
spoken. During this short period that little band has grown to 
a mighty host. 

June, 1844, Daniel H. Sands and nine others, representing six 
Grand Divisions, assembled in the old hall, No. 263 Grand Street, 
New York City, and held the first session of the National Divi- 
sion of the United States. 

November 18, 1842, the New York Division No. 1 resolved 
that a committee be appointed to prepare a circular for the tem- 
perance press throughout the country, explaining the character 
and aims of the new organization. This committee reported as 
follows : 

To the Friends of Temperance in the United States: 

The Grand Division of the Sons of Temperance of the State 
of New York would respectfully address you on the subject of 
the formation and designs of the Order. 

47i 



47 2 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Believing the use of alcoholic liquors as a beverage to be the 
prolific source (directly or indirectly) of nearly all the ills that 
afflict the human family, therefore, the first object of our institu- 
tion is to check their blighting influence upon our fellowmen, and 
disseminate by every laudable effort the blessings of total absti- 
nence throughout our common country. 

The Order of the Sons of Temperance, however, has three 
distinct objects in view, which are, as declared in the preamble 
of our constitution : " To shield us from the evils of intemper- 
ance, afford mutual assistance in case of sickness, and elevate 
our characters as men." 

The first is effectual through the instrumentality of the total 
abstinence pledge. 

The second, by the payment of a stated sum as an initiation 
fee, and a weekly due sufficient to enable us to pay a sick brother 
not less than $4 a week, $30 to his family or friends in case of his 
death, and $15 in case of the death of a brother's wife. 

The third, by adopting such rules for our government as are 
found best calculated to unite us as a band of brothers laboring 
for each other's welfare. 

The design contemplates permanent, systematic organization 
throughout the United States, divided into three classes, viz : 
Subordinate Divisions, State Divisions, and a National Division. 

Subordinate Divisions will meet weekly for the transaction of 
business, and shall be composed of such persons as shall be found 
worthy. The officers are elected quarterly, and are as follows : 
Worthy Patriarch, Worthy Associate, Recording Scribe, Financial 
Scribe, Treasurer, Conductor, Assistant Conductor, and Sentinel. 

State Divisions will meet quarterly, and are composed of all 
the Past and Acting Worthy Patriarchs of Subordinate Divisions 
under their respective jurisdictions, and over which they shall 
exercise certain powers. The first officers are called Grand 
Worthy Patriarchs. 

The National Division . will meet annually, and will be com- 
posed of the Past and Acting Grand Worthy Patriarchs of the 
State Divisions ; in this will be vested the supreme power of the 
Order. The Grand Division of the State of New York will 
exercise the powers of the National Division until such time as 
there shall be a sufficient number legally authorized to form the 
latter. 

The Order differs from other temperance organizations inas- 
much as we have certain forms and passwords, which are deemed 
essential to its welfare, and to guard against imposition. We 
would not, however, have any think that we design to interfere 
with, or oppose in the remotest degree, other organizations in the 
glorious cause of temperance ; as full evidence of this, it is only 
necessary to state that the projectors, and a large majority of the 
members, of our institution are now, and ever hope to be, 
actively engaged in the great Washingtonian reform, or some 
other branch of the noble work. But we find the necessity of 
closer union than the present organization affords between men 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE 473 

feeling the requirement of great effort and strong bonds of friend- 
ship, to be cemented by the ties of closer alliance and mutual 
benefit, to keep up and fully maintain an unrelaxed spirit of 
perseverance in the ennobling cause of human happiness in which 
we feel so deep an interest. 

The Order of the Sons of Temperance is merely intended as 
another link in the chain calculated, it is thought, from its peculiar 
construction, to bind those who may have been so unfortunate as 
to acquire the insatiate thirst for alcoholic drinks more securely 
to the paths of rectitude and honor. Yet we hope none will 
think our order intended only to reform the intemperate; we 
desire the strictly temperate to unite with us, that they may 
always remain so, and that the Order may receive the benefit of 
their influence; and we solicit the co-operation of the moderate 
or occasional drinker, that he may never become a drunkard. 

Having thus briefly detailed the present characteristics of our 
Order, we would earnestly call the attention of the friends of 
temperance to the subject; and where approved, we recommend 
that early measures be taken to join with us, by obtaining charters 
for opening new Divisions. 

Arrangements will be made by which brothers migrating may 
be transferred from one Division to another. 

Believing, as we do, that the Order of the Sons of Temperance 
will prove eminently useful in extending the blessings of total 
abstinence, brotherly love, and mutual aid, we sincerely hope to 
see branches immediately formed in all parts of the United 
States. 

Sons of Temperance in England. — The Order of the Sons of 
Temperance was introduced into England in 1846 by Mr. 
Thomas, an Englishman who had been a member of our Ameri- 
can Division. It grew until several Grand Divisions had been 
formed, and a National Division was organized in 1885. This 
has no formal connection with the Order in America, and inde- 
pendent action has led to some differences of practice, but the 
two National Divisions freely recognize each other's members 
as visitors. 

The Order in England took the lead in admitting women to 
membership. The English Order emphasizes the beneficiary 
features of the society. Their numbers have about equalled those 
of the American Order. 

Admission of Women. — As at first constituted, the Sons of 
Temperance admitted to membership "male persons eighteen 
years of age or over." But in 1854 the "mothers, wives, sisters, or 
daughters " of members were admitted to the meetings as " visi- 
tors." The age-limit of members was soon changed from 
eighteen to sixteen years, and subsequently to fourteen ; but in 
1&66 Subordinate Divisions who so wished were authorized to 
admit women to full membership on the same terms as men, and 
this policy gradually became almost universal in the Order. 



474 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

A KNOCK AT THE DOOR OF CHRIST'S CHURCH 

BY REV. THEODORE L. CUYLER, D. D v LL. D. 

Why has not a movement so sensible in its aims and 
so thoroughly Christian in its spirit as the temperance 
reform made more wide and permanent progress? We 
reply that it is for the very same reason that the enter- 
prise of evangelizing the heathen had made such slender 
progress in this country one hundred years ago. When 
the historic bell in old Independence Hall rang out its 
joyful tocsin of liberty there were not a score of Ameri- 
can missionaries on foreign shores. The pagans were 
perishing for lack of knowledge. Christ's command to 
" go and disciple " them was clear and imperative. But 
His church in America had not yet awaked to their duty. 
When they did awake to it over one thousand foreign 
missionaries were soon in the field. 

Up to this year the Christian church in this republic 
has never done a home-work for saving immortal men 
from the dram-cup at all commensurate with its foreign 
work in saving men from paganism. The havoc and the 
curse of the dram-cup have loomed up like the red- 
mouthed Vesuvius. The chiefest enemy of Christ, of 
Christianity, and of the country, is the dram-cup. 
Nothing has destroyed as many lives, desolated as many 
homes, and damned as many souls, as intemperance. If 
Jesus Christ established His church for the very purpose 
of saving human society from its sins, then surely the 
hugest sin that curses society should command the 
church's foremost attention. 

Some Christians attempt to excuse the church's neglect 
of duty by affirming temperance to be a purely political 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE 475" 

question, and by relegating it to the lawmaker and the 
policeman. It is true that the legal suppression of the 
drink traffic belongs to the ballot-box and the magistrate ; 
but unless Christ's followers put their conscience into the 
ballot-box no such righteous laws will be made and no 
righteous magistrates will be chosen to enforce them. 
Some other good people regard dram drinking as a ques- 
tion of dietetics and turn it over to the doctors. Un- 
doubtedly it has its physiological bearings, but if it is the 
duty of the doctor to keep strong drink out of men's 
bodies, it is tenfold more the duty of the Christian to keep 
strong drink out of men's souls. The moment that one 
evil lays its hands upon man's moral and eternal welfare, 
that same moment must the church of God lay her hand 
upon it. 

Again, it is asserted by short-sighted and slovenly 
thinkers that the temperance movement is purely a social 
one, with which Christ's church, as such, has nothing to 
do. But every true social reform, in order to be success- 
ful, must have the countenance, sympathy, and support of 
the followers of Christ and His purifying Gospel. No 
moral reform can live outside of Christ's followers. 
There is not a moral precept which tempted humanity 
needs but the church of Jesus should teach it ; there is 
not a pure example to be set but the church of the holy 
Jesus should practice it. That company of Christ's fol- 
lowers look most like their Master and live most like 
Him who do the most work to " seek out and save " their 
tempted fellowmen. When Christ gave the Bible to his 
people he gave it to teach self-denial for other's sake; 
when he handed to them the " sword of the Spirit " it 
was not to commit suicide, but to be thrust into the heart 
of such hydras as intemperance. His people are to be the 
" light " and the "salt " of the world. But it is a hideous 



476 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

burlesque to call that church a " light " which does not 
even hang up a penny lantern to warn men from the 
most thickly traveled road to ruin. It is a mockery to 
style that church a " salt " of society which puts a time- 
server in its pulpit and gathers tipplers around its com- 
munion board. 

•We need not array here all the hundred arguments to 
demonstrate that Christ's church might be, can be, and 
ought to be an organized force to resist the drink traffic 
and to reform the drinking usages of society. No argu- 
ments are as unanswerable as solid facts. One such 
instructive fact has been recently furnished us in the 
career of that honored American evangelist whose 
trumpet voice has rung over Christendom. Dwight L. 
Moody is to-day the most successful reformer of his 
fellow-creatures on the globe. But all that he has done 
(by God's help) has been accomplished simply as a 
Christian teacher — as a preacher and a practicer of 
Christ's Gospel. He aims that Gospel at all sin and 
every sinner. Looking squarely at the bottle which is 
grasped by so many hands he smites that bottle with the 
" sword of the spirit " and shivers it to atoms. Looking 
at the man behind that bottle as a transgressor of God's 
law, he expects him to quit his sin and to find restoring 
strength in the Lord Jesus. He invokes for him the 
power of prayer and the sympathy of God's people. The 
wanderer then brought back is commended by the wise 
evangelist to the watch and care of the church, and that 
church would be recreant to the very name of their divine 
Shepherd if they refused a welcoming and a watchful 
hand to the converted inebriate. Every link in this chain 
of saving influence is thoroughly Scriptural and evangeli- 
cal, and Paul himself could not work after a more 
orthodox pattern. 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE All 

Now, if one Christian worker then applies Scriptural 
truth, Christian love, and common sense to the reforma- 
tion of drunkards, why should not a whole church of 
Christian workers apply the same methods for the rescue 
of every drunkard they can reach? The Christian 
church thus occupied in the practical work of pulling 
out " brands from the burning " would make itself an 
effective temperance brotherhood — more permanent in its 
influence than any " Washingtonian " society ever 
organized. A genuine church of Jesus Christ, governed 
and guided by the spirit of Jesus, ought, from its very 
principles and its permanent character, to be the best 
agency in the land for the rescue and the shelter of the 
victims of the bottle. Christ built his church to be a 
fold; and we may well inquire what wandering sheep 
can possibly need a fold more than the one who has been 
fleeced by the grog-seller and worried and mangled by 
the hounds of temptations ? 

If the church is a proper organization for saving man 
out of drunkenness, then by sound logic it ought to be 
an equally proper organization to prevent people from 
falling into drunkenness. It ought to be a school of in- 
struction to teach inexperienced youth not to tamper with 
the ensnaring wiles of the tempter. It ought to teach 
the wisdom, the safety, and the blessings of entire ab- 
stinence from the intoxicating cup. In its business, in 
its Sunday-schools, in its pulpits, it should enforce divine 
exhortation not to " look upon the wine, which at the 
last biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder." 
By every motive of tender solicitude for the protection of 
its own children from the horrors of this basest of vices ; 
by every motive of regard for its own spiritual purity; 
by every motive of self-denial for the sake of the weak, 
and of sympathy for the souls of the tempted; by every 



47^ THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

motive of self-preservation and of jealousy for the honor 
of its king, every band of Christ's followers ought to 
" come out and be separate and touch not this unclean 
thing/' What concord hath Christ with this Belial of 
the bottle? No matter what be the label on this bottle, 
if there be alcohol in it then it is " possessed with a 
devil." 

Eighteen centuries of sorrow and of shame and of 
soul-slaughtering ought to have taught Christ's church 
that she can never be a nursing mother to her children 
while she mixes the milk of the Word with one poison 
drop of the devil's brewing. 

If entire abstinence from the sale, purchase, and use 
of intoxicants be the only safe, strong ground for Christ's 
servants, then this principle ought to be wrought into 
their daily creed and conduct. A principle so vital 
claims its proper place in the pulpit, in the practice, in 
the prayers, and in the discipline of every church which 
would be " pure from the blood of all men." No Chris- 
tian church is thoroughly furnished for good work 
unless it has a temperance wheel in its moral machin- 
ery. In plain English, every single church requires an 
organization of some kind to promote the principles of 
abstinence. As the church organizes her Sabbath-school 
and missionary operations, so let her organize her efforts 
to resist her deadliest foe. 

We would recommend that the total-abstinence ma- 
chinery in each congregation be very simple and man- 
ageable. No prolix constitution or intricate by-laws are 
required. A half-dozen articles of government, a wide- 
awake president, treasurer, and secretary, a small execu- 
tive committee whose zeal burns with the steady glow 
of an anthracite fire, and a pledge of total abstinence— 
this is about all the machinery that can be used to ad- 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE 479 

vantage. The pastor's aid and sympathy are indispens- 
able. A church seldom gets beyond its own pulpit; and 
if the devil can smuggle a demijohn of choice wine into 
the pulpit it is pretty certain to trickle out into all the 
pews in the sanctuary. Next to the pastor's co-operation, 
success will depend upon having the right sort of men 
and women to handle the ropes. Managers should be 
appointed who are zealous enough to arrange frequent 
public meetings, and discreet enough to select the right 
kind of speakers and singers, and wise enough to steer 
clear of reckless methods and sensational buffooneries in 
the name of the Lord. No righteous cause has ever 
been so sadly damaged by fools and fanatics as the cause 
of temperance. The wisest heads and the most godly 
hearts in every church can find no better field for their 
best efforts than in the difficult contest with this hun- 
dred-headed hydra of strong drink. 

The temperance reform is really yet in its experi- 
mental stages. So far from being a veteran giant, it is 
as yet but a ruddy stripling, confronting a giant with but 
five smooth stones from the water-brook in its slender 
scrip. 

In its early experimental stages our holy cause has 
suffered severely from some unwise methods, but is 
gaining wisdom from every reverse or blunder. Our 
severest sufferings have come from the indifference or 
unbelief or open opposition of many who " profess and 
call themselves Christians." In regard to the temper- 
ance enterprise the American churches actually stand 
to-day where they stood in regard to foreign missions 
three-score years ago. Only a few individual churches 
here and there have introduced our weapons into their 
armory, or organized their opposition to the most colos- 
sal curse on this continent. Only a few churches have 



480 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

efficient total-abstinence societies; only a few, compara- 
tively, have introduced temperance literature into their 
Sabbath-schools. 

But it ought to be known that those churches — in 
Britain and in America — which have discarded the anti- 
quated " smooth-bores " and have adopted the rifled guns 
of total abstinence have done splendid execution in the 
armies of King Jesus. God has bestowed rich re- 
vival blessings upon such churches. When they have 
turned aside in compassion to lift up the wretched 
brother man who has fallen into the thickets of tempta- 
tion and been left plundered, wretched, and half-dead, 
the divine Master has given them that benediction, " Ye 
did it unto me." 

To-day the future of this temperance reform — on 
which so many human lives, so much of mutual welfare, 
and so many immortal destinies are depending — the 
future of this reform is committed to the church of the 
Lord. The moment that God's people adopt it, give it 
house-room and heart-room, put it into their purses and 
their prayers, that moment its life is secure. The tern- 
perance cause deserves a place on every church roll of 
pecuniary contributions. Its books, its pictures, and its 
tracts deserve a shelf in every Sunday-school library. 
// the children are lost, all is lost! The principles of 
total abstinence, taught in God's inspired Word and re- 
inforced by human experience, deserve their place in the 
instructions and appeals of every pulpit. It is no shift- 
less, selfish mendicant who raps at the door of God's 
house begging for alms; but as an angel of mercy from 
the King comes the fair Spirit of Temperance. The 
dew of the morning is on her locks; the water-pitcher 
which she bears on her shoulders has been the water of 
life to thousands whom she has carried off the battle-field 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE 481 

mangled and ready to die. She brings to Christ's 
churches, Sunday-schools, and prayer-gatherings more 
favors than she asks. No one else ever has done it. 
The family of Christian virtues and working forces is 
incomplete without her. No church of Jesus Christ is 
willing to spare her when they have once felt the power 
for good and tested the blessings she has brought. . At 
the portal of every American church, every Sabbath- 
school blooming with childhood, and every home stands 
the bright-eyed, clean-limbed Angel of Temperance. 
Length of days is in her right hand. She comes to unbind 
the capti/es and to lead them to Him who is mighty to 
save ! 

Behold this Angel at your door ! 
She often knocks — has knocked before; 
Has waited long — is waiting still ; 
You treat no other friend so ill. 

Admit her ! for the human breast 

Ne'er entertain a kinder guest. 

Admit her ! and you won't expel ; 

For where she comes, she conies to dwell. 



WELCOME TO WASHINGTON, D. C. 

An Address 

by f. m. bradley, p. m. w. p. 

Ik acceptance of the invitation of the Sons of Tem- 
perance of the District of Columbia, you are here to- 
night from every section of this North American con- 
tinent. 



482 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

You come from the busy cities and towns of glorious 
New England. 

Others of you have your pleasant homes on the bor- 
ders of those great western streams and lakes that bear 
on their bosom the commerce of a nation. 

Others are here from our fair South land, where the 
sky is ever soft and bright, and the flowers always bloom. 
Others, yet, come from far off toward the setting sun, 
where Pacific's waves dash against the land of gold. 
The Central States of our Union, constituting an empire 
in themselves, are represented by a throng of workers, 
earnest and successful; while from across the border, 
where another government and another flag are recog- 
nized, we are honored with the presence of gentlemen 
who are known and recognized, both in the Dominion 
and the Republic, as temperance leaders. 

If our citizens who are here to-night could speak they 
would heartily unite with me in saying, " Welcome, 
thrice welcome ! " 

As their representative it is not possible for me to 
speak more formal words of greeting. I have known 
you so long, and loved you so well, that every word of 
mine must come from the heart. Oftentimes you have 
welcomed me to your hearts and homes. Together we 
have stood upon the mountain top, where, in the quiet 
stillness, among the old gray rocks, we were nearer 
heaven in fact, as well as in fancy, than ever before. 
Together we have looked out upon old ocean as its 
waves were breaking into foam at our feet. 

To-night we shall renew old friendships and form 
new ones. In the clasping of hands we shall feel the 
quick pulsation of warm and generous hearts, and per- 
haps we may gain fresh courage and inspiration for 
the conflict before us. It is our wish, dear friends, to 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE 4$3 

fill these quickly-passing moments so full of brightness 
that in coming years you may remember this occasion 
as among life's happiest events. 

Faces and fancies, incidents and accidents, joyous and 
sad reminiscences, kindly words, and pleasant smiles, are 
impressed on heart and brain. They cannot change ; 
they will not vanish like the beautiful clouds, nor fade 
as our sweet flowers — for these bright dreams of the 
past are imperishable during this life, and if memory 
survive the death of the body they will be with us for- 
evermore. 

I am glad that you are gathered in my own church 
home — a place very precious to me, and hallowed by 
sacred memories. It is a modest, yet beautiful temple, 
of God. 

The pastor, officers, and members of this church unite 
in welcoming you to this place of tender recollection. 

(Reference was made to the vacant pew of the mar- 
tyred President Garfield.) 

Our Order exists to-day because of the liquor traf- 
fic and the consequent sin and sorrow in the world 
about us. 

" For as we journey down life's toilsome way, 
We cannot walk alone; 
Earth's sweetest notes are mingled day by day, 
With sorrow's saddest tone." 

The victory is to be ours. It will not be won in a 
day, or a year; but it is coming. We are moving on- 
ward step by step, and day by day : 

" Heaven is not reached at a single bound, 

But we build the ladder by which we rise 
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies > 
And we mount to the summit round by round." 



484 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

We have engraven on our banners, Total abstinence 
from drink, and the legal prohibition of the manufacture, 
importation, and sale of intoxicating liquors. And 
above all, and over all, in letters of living light, we have 
placed the words, " Faith in God ! " By this sign we 
conquer. 

In conclusion, Most Worthy Patriarch, I thank you in 
the name of my brethren for your presence here. We 
welcome you and your associates to this city, which is 
the common property of all the people of our nation, and 
to which all the world is welcome. Accept, then, the 
welcome of earnest hearts to our capital city; and our 
wish is that you may so enjoy yourselves as not to regret 
your brief visit to the political metropolis of this 
Republic. 



A LITTLE GIRL'S WELCOME— A RECITATION 

Most Worthy Patriarch: 

I belong to the cold water army, 

And so do those flowers, I think; 
For I know they have had nothing stronger 

Than water — pure water — to drink. 

They bring with their fragrance a greeting 
From hearts that are loving and true, 

And every fair blossom is breathing 
A sweet little message for you. 

The roses are saying, " God bless you " ; 

The lilies, " We bring you good cheer " ; 
And all blend their perfume and beauty, 
To charm you and welcome you herr 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE 4^5 

INSTALLATION ADDRESS* 

BY P. M. W. P. EUGENE H. CLAPP OF BOSTON. 

Dear Brother Temple: In olden times it was the 
custom for Roman citizens, when their heroes returned 
from their victories, to present them with a crown of 
laurel in token of the appreciation of the Commonwealth 
for the noble deeds done in its behalf. To-day it is my 
very pleasant duty to present to you, upon retiring from 
your two years' term of office, this regalia, the highest 
badge which our Order can bestow upon anyone, as a 
token of the appreciation of the services you have ren- 
dered during your term of office. You know right 
well, my dear brother, that with it is accompanied the 
good wishes of every member of our Order expressive 
of the hope that there may be many years of service left 
for you in the cause of the Master, and of our heartfelt 
thanks that you have been enabled to hold up the stand- 
ard so well, and to do such yeoman service for us 
during your occupancy of the office of Most Worthy 
Patriarch ; and in retiring to this other position of honor, 
the position of Past Most Worthy Patriarch, we trust 
that God will have you in his holy keeping during the 
years that are to come, and that you will remember the 
members of the great Order hold your work in tender 
remembrance, and your name will be enrolled among the 
heroes who have labored honestly, earnestly, and sincerely 
for our cause. 

* On presenting to P. M. W. P. Rev. R. Alder Temple, of Nova 
Scotia, the badge and regalia suited to his rank. 



486 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

RESPONSIVE ADDRESS 

BY P. M. W. P. REV. R. ALDER TEMPLE. 

P. M. W. P. Clapp: I thank my brethren for this 
beautiful badge — more precious to me than that of the 
Star and Gartar or the Legion .of Honor, as the chivalry 
of Benevolence is nobler than that of arms. 

It is especially gratifying to me to be invested with 
this badge by the hands of a brother to whom, together 
with his honored predecessor in this chair, I am under 
infinite obligations for many acts of kindness and for- 
bearance with my inexperience in the functions of the 
executive rendered so necessary and welcome, and with 
whom I have been so familiarly associated during the last 
six years. 

My term of office has given me a most extensive and 
intimate acquaintance with the Order on this continent, 
and fully confirms my convictions, of nearly forty years' 
growth, as to the superior excellence of this " Grand 
Old Order," and strengthens my purpose to consecrate 
at its altar fires all the energies of my later years. 

Again I thank you for this beautiful badge of honor, 
and pledge myself to preserve it in untarnished loyalty 
to the Order to the end of my days. 

ADDRESS OF WELCOME* 

BY J. S. LITTELL, P. M. W. P. 

Most Worthy Patriarch, Officers and Represen- 
tatives: As the representative of the Grand Division 

*On behalf of the Grand Division of New Jersey, to the Na- 
tional Division of the Sons of Temperance of North America 
in convention assembled at Ocean Grove, N. J. 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE 4^7 

Sons of Temperance of New Jersey, it becomes my 
duty, and that duty I esteem an honor, to tend to you its 
welcome. We are glad to welcome to this Grand Juris- 
diction the National Division, Sons of Temperance, of 
North America, an organization whose jurisdiction ex- 
tends over an entire continent, and we take pride, not 
only in constituting a part of that organization, but we 
justly claim equal honors in the work of the formation 
of this an order so grand in its conception, so benefi- 
cent in its workings, so glorious in its results, one which 
has done and is doing so much for the advancement of 
the cause of Temperance. 

New Jersey has always stood in the front rank of this 
great work. Her representatives joined New York 
City No. I within twenty days after its formation, made 
application for and were granted a charter, under which 
Newark Division No. I was instituted. 

It is then with pride and pleasure that I can, in the 
name of the Grand Division of. New Jersey, welcome 
you Most Worthy Patriarch and Representatives to this 
beautiful seaside resort, Ocean Grove, where not only all 
traffic in liquor, but in cigars and tobacco, is prohibited. 

It is our earnest wish and desire that all things here 
will conspire to make your visit pleasant and happy, that 
your business session may prove harmonious, that great 
good will result to your noble Order, and finally, Most 
Worthy Patriarch and Brethren, that when you separate 
for your distant homes, you do so with renewed and 
sterner resolve to continue your labors until the white 
flag of temperance floats victorious over our country, 
and Prohibition is the law of the land. 



488 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

ADDRESS OF RESPONSE 

BY BENJAMIN R. JEWELL, ESQ., M. W. P. 

To the President of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting 
Association, G. W. P., Officers and Members of the 
Grand Division of New Jersey : Thirteen years ago, on 
the soil of this State, I became a member of the National 
Division, and now as executive head of the Order it 
becomes my duty, as it is my pleasure, to respond to 
the hearty words of welcome which have greeted us. 

At the laying of the foundations of this Order the 
fathers kept two distinct objects in view; first, the refor- 
mation of the drunkard and the rescue of the moderate 
drinker ; and second, the elevation of the character of the 
membership of the Order. The design contemplated 
permanent and systematic organization through North 
America. Three distinct branches constitute the united 
whole; the National, the Grand, and the Subordinate 
Divisions. The National Division is the head, the Grand 
Division the heart, and the Subordinate the blood, which 
is the life of the Order. 

We have enrolled under our banner the experience of 
veterans in the cause, the strength and judgment of those 
in middle life, and the enthusiasm of youth. 

We seek to make the Order attractive by impressive 
ceremonies and solemn obligations. It is destitute in 
its secret features of either signs, grips, or degrees. 

Recognizing the power of woman's influence in this 
fraternity, she enters on a perfect equality. In the lan- 
guage of P. M. W. P. Condict, whose memory you 
revere, " ours is a purely voluntary association, with 
laws rigid and explicit, it is true, and yet without the 
power of enforcing an unwilling obedience. Its mem- 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE 4^9 

bership must, therefore, be sincere, devoted to principle, 
and living beyond even the taint of suspicion. Its prin- 
ciples must be household principles and recognized as 
akin to the penates of the ancients. Their Vesta was 
the goddess of the heart, and her worship was a daily 
sacrifice in every family. Her temple was adorned with 
no statue of the goddess, but the eternal fire burning on 
her altars was her living symbol. This fire was guarded 
perpetually by her virgin priestesses, themselves living 
emblems of purity and devotion. Our own living em- 
blem is the flame of a pure, hallowed devotion to the 
principles of Love, Purity, and Fidelity; undying Love, 
vestal Purity, and martyr Fidelity. 

" Let the enrollment of our Order among the penates 
of every land be our aim. Be it ours to fan its sacred 
flame until its genial light and heat shines through every 
circle." 

We are opposed to legalizing a traffic that is wrong. 
Not a single good influence, social or moral, private or 
public, can justly be claimed for the traffic in intoxicat- 
ing beverages ; hence the extirpation of all dram-shops 
would be an inestimable blessing, and that legislation 
that will restrict the sale to the least possible amount will 
be for the prosperity of the community and the interests 
of morality and religion. 

Our poorhouses and jails are being filled, our young 
men are stricken down in the flower of their manhood 
and borne to drunkards' graves. Wives, sisters, and 
mothers are hearth-stone martyrs, the best interests of 
society suffer, and still our legislators protect the dram- 
seller by law. 

It is by contrasting the condition of the people when 
this Order was first instituted, with the present that we 
find courage to continue the struggle with the giant evil. 



49° THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Revolutions never go backward, and though our way 
be beset with foes as numerous as those who hedged 
the path of Luther, we shall not be vanquished. 

Our fathers on the plains of Abraham, at the siege of 
Louisburg, at Trenton, and at Monmouth, gave their 
lives for their country, but ours is a moral conflict; the 
weapons we use are not carnal, but mighty for the pull- 
ing down of the strongholds of Satan. 

The forces we rely upon are the same agencies that 
are employed by the Christian Church. The events of 
the hour show a lack of heart work in the reforms of 
the day. The great mass of the people give their assent 
to the principles of temperance, to the measures that 
the better elements in society are demanding; but that 
conscientious advocacy of the right that takes possession 
of the judgment and will, that overpowers all opposition, 
is wanting. If our young men would enlist all the noble 
powers they possess, if the whole subject could be lifted 
out of the plane of surface work into the realm of con- 
science and religion, what might we not expect? 

May we not hope that the day is not far distant when 
the people will act not from ignoble and selfish motives, 
but regard the voice of conscience and base every action 
on the rule of absolute right? 

We plead for home instruction and home influence. 
The home is older than the church, and its power should 
always be exerted for good morals and a pure example. 
We plead for temperance education in our public schools. 
True education embraces something more than a knowl- 
edge of the sciences; it includes discipline of the heart, 
as well as of the mind; the formation of right principles 
and correct habits, and the highest development of the 
moral nature. 

We plead for Sabbath and Sabbath-school temperance 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE 49 J 

work. We need the Sabbath as a day of holy rest for 
the purity of our families, for the maintenance of virtue, 
for the preservation of our civil and religious liberties. 
Break down the Christian Sabbath and the moral foun- 
dations of our government would be „ destroyed. 

We plead for the dissemination of temperance litera- 
ture broadcast o'er the land, and for the help of the 
Christian church, whose work is everywhere antagonized 
by the drink traffic. 

Anna Shipton, in one of her helpful little volumes, 
tells us that once, " when weary with work and longing 
for rest and Christ," she fell asleep and dreamt that she 
was being drawn by a strong cable through a sea of glass 
to a city of gold, while heavenly watchers waved their 
welcome from the battlements and echoes of heavenly 
melody made her long to be there. But, looking back for 
a moment at the sound of a bitter cry, she saw multitudes 
of men and women drowning around her, and throwing 
up their arms in wild despairing cries for help. The 
sight so moved her that she cried, " Father, not yet ; a 
little longer let the glory wait, and send me back to 
save these perishing ones." The prayer was answered. 
She did not cease to be borne heavenward, but no longer 
alone — many with her, borne by her own heart-strings. 
The cords of her very heart had loosed and become 
cables of love. 

When we consecrate ourselves to the work of saving 
others; when our hearts are so filled with love that we 
willingly give our time, our talents, our lives even, that 
we may be helpers in saving the race, then shall we most 
fully imitate the example of Him who gave his life for 
us. We believe the day of triumph will come. From 
every hillside, from every valley, beside every stream, 
the song of victory will be heard. It is said " when 



49 2 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Queen Victoria visited Edinburgh, in 1842, scarcely had 
the twilight deepened into night when from every hill- 
side surrounding the city there seemed to rise simulta- 
neously a crest of fire. Each mountaineer lifted up a 
torch, and from Berwich to Sterling, and from Sterling 
to Fife, the great firth was at once illuminated. It was 
a witness, a token to the people, that its sovereign was 
near." 

When the day of Christ shall be ushered in; when 
a new heaven and a new earth is ours; when the curse 
of intemperance is removed, our part will be " well 
done " if we have lighted up from land to land the 
beacons of hope and salvation. 

In response, my dear brother, to the cordial words 
of welcome so heartily extended by the Grand Division 
of New Jersey, accept the gratitude of the members of 
the National Division. 

Gathered here, representatives from the isles of the 
sea, from the Northland where the St. Lawrence in its 
ceaseless flow bears onward the " white-winged mes- 
sengers of commerce," or becomes the scene of joyous 
winter sports ; from the sunny South where orange groves 
and tropical flowers are always a present pleasure ; from 
Central States where the Mississippi and its tributaries 
apprenticed to the use of man turn the wheel of labor, 
forge the stubborn metal, and weave the fleecy web ; 
from the great West, whose resources and wealth are 
unmeasured as the waters of the Pacific ; from States 
and provinces washed by the Atlantic; let us to-night 
renew our sacred obligation to labor for the salvation 
of the common Brotherhood of Man. 

As we behold the works of our Father's hand in nature, 
" deep calleth unto deep " ; as we gaze upon the boundless 
ocean, calm, convulsed, mirror-like or dark-heaving, our 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE 493 

souls are moved with love to Him who caused these 
waves to rise and fall; yet our deepest love is won, not 
by the wonders of nature, but by the gift of His Son, the 
Redeemer of the world. 



ADDRESS OF GREETING 

BY HIS EXCELLENCY OLIVER AMES, GOVERNOR OF 
MASSACHUSETTS. 

Ladies and Gentlemen: I am very glad to be here 
to-night to extend to the representatives of an Order 
of such importance as the National Division of the Sons 
of Temperance of North America the cordial greeting 
of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The people 
of this State have an abiding interest in everything that 
relates to the advancement of the cause of temperance, 
and it sees in the organization which you represent not 
only one of the oldest, but one of the most active and 
vigorous of those societies which seek by moral suasion 
and by personal influence (the most effective agencies 
for such a work) to lessen and suppress the evils which 
result from the liquor traffic. While no one can fail to 
deplore the results that still come from intemperance, 
the vice and poverty and crime that are its most obvious 
results, still no one can fail to be glad that we have made 
such a marked advance over those who preceded us. 
Many of us can remember when drunkenness, provided 
it was not habitual, was looked upon as scarcely more 
than a foolish escapade ; now, if a man is intoxicated but 
once he is looked upon for a long time afterward with 
suspicion, and it takes years of good conduct to banish 
from the memory of others the event of a single day. I 



494 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

can remember, as a boy, seeing in my native town one 
of the leading citizens of the town who came in a wheel- 
barrow in a state of beastly intoxication. In that day 
it did not seem to hurt his standing seriously. To-day 
he would hardly be considered a reputable member of 
society. Many of us can also remember when liquors 
were in the commonest use in a very large proportion 
of the households of the land; now, the man who has 
wine regularly on his table is justly the subject of wide- 
spread remark, and is not held in the highest estimation 
by his fellowmen. We know, too, that much that was 
once expended for intoxicants now goes to make the 
home more comfortable— to educate the children, and to 
provide literature for the adults of the family. And 
knowing all this, we, who take a strong interest in the 
temperance question, are encouraged to go on with the 
work in which we are engaged. I say we, for I, as well 
as you, am anxious that temperance should prevail. I 
rejoice with you when you rejoice, and mourn with you 
when you have cause to be sorrowful, but I feel that you 
are fully justified in congratulating yourselves on the 
results which you have already achieved. I bid you, 
in the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
proceed with the work in which you are engaged, for you 
have the best wishes of her citizens for your success. 

And this Order, relying on the force of its own 
evidences and the attractions of its own beauty, shall 
live, 

" And land the ark that bears our country's good 
Safe on some peaceful Ararat at last." 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE 495 



MEMORIAL TRIBUTES* 

BY REV. R. ALDER TEMPLE, M. W. P., OF HALIFAX, NOVA 

SCOTIA. 

The name of General Fisk shines like a star of the first 
magnitude,' filling the entire firmament of temperance. 
He belonged not to one temperance society, but to all ; not 
to one country, but to every country. He was as much 
beloved in the Canadian Provinces as he was in the 
United States. The tidings of his death came to the 
organization which I have the honor to represent, with a 
shock of inexpressible sadness and solemnity. I feel the 
most painful sense of loss in the death of our beloved 
co-worker. Most profoundly do I admire his genial dis- 
position, his devotion to the cause of temperance, and his 
noble and grand character. We should not only be 
grieved at his death, but we also should be incited to more 
active deeds of goodness, and should consecrate ourselves 
anew to Christ and His work. 

BY REV. DR. A. E. BALLARD, OF OCEAN GROVE. 

It is very difficult for me to realize that Clinton B. Fisk 
is dead. He was more to me in the work of temperance 
than any other man. I always could recognize in him 
the one power, the one leader of the cause. In my 
mind he was the one man to unite the various elements 
of the temperance organizations. But he is gone. I 
know of no man — and I say it to the disparagement of 
none of our great temperance advocates — who can fill 
his place. I cannot refrain from saying that I am sorry. 

*At a Memorial Service at the Auditorium, Ocean Grove, 
N. J., on the death of Gen. Clinton B. Fisk. 



496 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

he has gone to his long home. His devotion to his wife 
and family was only equaled by their love for him. He 
was the friend of down-trodden humanity everywhere. 



BY E. H. CLAPP, P. M. W. P., OF BOSTON. 

Can it be that the voice so long eloquent is still in 
death? Out of the sadness of this hour may there come 
many lessons for our benefit. General Fisk made such 
impressions on the Americans that ages cannot efface. 
The memories of him will last as long as temperance lives. 
Dead ! No, he still lives, and will ever live in the heart 
of every person who knew him. 



BY GEN. JAMES F. RUSTLING, OF TRENTON, N. J. 

We drank out of the same canteen, we sat under the 
same tent, we slept under the same blanket. We mourn 
his loss, first because he was a typical American. Born 
in obscurity, he arose, by his own efforts, to positions of 
the greatest trust and responsibility. In 1861 we find him 
a private soldier serving in the ranks. His genius be- 
came known and he was advanced to the position of Gen- 
eral and commander of a department. At the close of 
the war he was appointed by President Lincoln superin- 
tendent of the hospital service in the States of Kentucky 
and Tennessee. He was a philanthropist, and a friend of 
every good man and cause, and an enemy to all evil. 
Fisk University, at Nashville, Tenn., is a standing monu- 
ment to his memory. In all respects he was a model 
man. 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE 497 



OUR DEPARTED 

Our brothers, now beyond the river, 

Waiting on the farther shore, 
Make us long to reach the harbor 

Of the dear ones gone before ; 
As we strive, our nobler virtues 

Scatter seeds of truth and love, 
Knowing that they watch and beckon, 

From the sinless realms above. 



JAMES A. GARFIELD 

A TRIBUTE FROM THE SONS OF TEMPERANCE 

Cincinnati, O., Sept. 22, 1881. 
Hon. Jas. G. Blaine, Secretary of State, 
Washington, D. C. 
Dear Sir: During the terrible and extended suffering 
of our beloved President Garfield the prayers of tens 
of thousands of the members of the Sons of Temperance, 
irrespective of geographical distinctions or boundary 
lines, representing Great Britain, the British Provinces, 
and islands of the sea, have been offered daily for his 
restoration to health and continued usefulness to this 
afflicted nation. But in the midst of hope, this sorrow- 
ing and bereaved nation is called upon to mourn his 
death. In accordance with the wishes of the Sons of 
Temperance within our National Jurisdiction as ex- 
pressed in Division Rooms and Grand Assemblies, permit 
me on behalf of the National Division of the Sons of 
Temperance of North America to say that they share 
the nation's sorrow, and tender, through you, to the 
aged and afflicted mother and the bereaved wife and 
children of President Garfield, expressions of our deep 



49^ THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

sympathy and continued prayers. With sentiments of 
high esteem, I am, on behalf of the National Division of 
the Sons of Temperance of North America, 
Yours sincerely, 

E. J. Morris, 
Most Worthy Patriarch. 

Department of State, 
Washington, Oct. 12, 1881. 
E. J. Morris, Esq., 

Most Worthy Patriarch of the Sons of Temperance, 
Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Sir: It affords me sincere, although mournful, grati- 
fication to make feeling acknowledgment, in the name 
of the late President Garfield's grief-stricken family, of 
the many heart-felt tributes of sorrow for our common 
loss, and of admiration for the high character of the 
revered dead, which come to them and the American 
Government and people in this hour of deep affliction 
from every part of the Union, and especially for the 
touching letter you addressed me, under date of 22A 
ultimo, expressing the deep sympathy of the Sons of 
Temperance. 

I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

James G. Blaine. 



JOHN B. GOUGH 

AN OBITUARY REFERENCE 

He belonged to the temperance reform in America 
and throughout the world, and his death was a great 
loss to us and to the temperance cause everywhere; and 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE 499 

we do therefore express our great appreciation of the 
services he has rendered to the " cause of all mankind," 
and urge that his heroic life-struggle and victory shall be 
an incentive to renewed action, not only to save the slave 
of the drink appetite, but to redeem the nation from 
the intrenched position of this curse — the legalized 
saloon. 

In Memoriam. The loss of these beloved brethren 
has touched the whole Order with a sense of regret ; but 
us, who knew them so well, with the deepest sadness. 
We give tears to their memory and flowers to their 
graves. The Amaranth which encircles them is a 
greener and more fragrant wreath than the laurel which 
crowns the proudest victor w T ho " aims beneath the skies." 
But our bereavements are not a sorrow only, but an 
inspiration. Our Brethren are borne to the grave as 
brave men bear a comrade-warrior who has fallen in an 
honorable field, each one girding himself, in the moment 
of his deepest grief, for other battles in the same holy 
war. And there are many in this hall to-day, some just 
proving their armor and some bearing the scars of battle, 
who are prepared, beside the ashes of their fathers and 
brethren, to renew their fealty to our cause, jealous with 
a holy jealousy lest our burial-ground should become 
richer than our Order. 

Conclusion. The work of the year has gone into the 
bosom of the past ; but its lessons abide with us. Let us 
spring to the call of duty, clasp hands with the re- 
sponsibilities of the hour, and give ourselves to action. 
Let us be Elijahs, who never pandered for. the favor of 
a court, nor made unholy compromise with the idolaters 
of Baal; who preserved no dastard neutrality, but held 



500 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

to one great master purpose which molded all others into 
subordination. Let ours be the staunch heroism and in- 
corruptible fidelity of the immortal monk who said : " If 
I had five heads I would lose them all rather than retract 
the testimony which I have borne." If there be diffi- 
culties in our way let us be thankful and patient. They 
will test our capabilities of resistance. 



RESOLUTION OF THANKS 

P. M. W. P., B. R. Jewell offered the following resolu- 
tion, which was unanimously adopted, viz.: 

Resolved, That our. esteemed Brother, B. F. Dennison, 
who has just retired from the office of Most Worthy 
Patriarch of the National Division of the Sons of Tem- 
perance of North America, on the expiration of the term 
assigned to that office, is fully entitled to the thanks of 
this body for his uniform courtesy, his untiring devotion, 
his ceaseless activity, and for his impartiality, which has 
ever been manifest in the discharge of his official duties. 
The best wishes of the National Division will attend him 
on his retirement, and it is our prayer that he and his 
may share largely in the blessing of God, rejoicing in the 
hope of the Christian. 



ANNUAL ADDRESS 

BY EUGENE H. CLAPP, M. W. P., SONS OF TEMPERANCE 

We are often met by the pertinent question : " What 
good are you doing ? " and it is well sometimes to stop 
and consider whether we are realizing in our work the 
measure of our hopes and anticipations. I was asked 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE 5°x 

the other day by a friend, " How many men have you 
saved, and how many have taken the pledge as a result of 
your work during the past two years ? " It seems to me 
a fitting thought to present to you to-day, to ask you to 
look over your own work during the past years in the 
light of this question, and to measure somewhat the suc- 
cess which you have met with in this direction. The 
Sons of Temperance, while originally organized as a 
society for the saving of men who had become addicted 
to the drink habit, in these later days has widened its 
work and broadened its principles, and exists for a better 
and nobler work even than this. It seems to me to-day 
that we should ask not only, How many men have you 
saved from a drunkard's life and a drunkard's doom? 
but, How many men have you prevented from acquiring 
the drink habit, with its attendant evils? We come into 
this world, no two of us with the same quality of character 
of thought, and to each of us is given talents by the Great 
Father, varying in nature, varying in quality, but all with 
our appointed work to do. To one may be given the 
gift of speech, to another that of song, to another that of 
persuasion; but in whatever direction our particular 
gifts may lie, it is for us to use them as the Good Father 
intended, and He alone shall measure the result. You 
remember the parable of the different servants to whom 
were intrusted the various talents by the Master; so, in 
the daily lives in which we are engaged we are to use 
the different talents intrusted to us and we are not re- 
sponsible for the results. Our mission is to extend, 
uphold, and maintain the principles of Total Abstinence 
and Prohibition, and with this in view we should be able 
to so mold society, so educate the people, that the drink- 
ing habit shall be lessened and the opportunity for 
acquiring the habit shall be removed, so that this and the 



502 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

coming generation shall be the better and happier simply 
from the want of temptation. I think, then, the mission 
of our Order is better and higher than ever; not only to 
reform the inebriate, but to educate the child to be better 
and nobler from the work which this Order has been 
able to do. Unassuming, and without ostentation, we 
have been laboring for nearly half a century, and much 
of the public sentiment of to-day ought to be placed to 
the credit of the old Order of the Sons of Temperance. 
Forget not your mission in the future. Do not falter in 
your purpose, go onward, scattering the good seed, and 
by and by the harvest shall be reaped. 

We have in the immediate past apparently been legis- 
lating for the present only, and have not had due regard 
for the interests of the future. I wish I could impress 
upon you the importance of some legislation which shall 
commit our Order more thoroughly than in the past to 
the work of the right education of the young in order 
that an impression may be made upon the coming genera- 
tion more thoroughly than we have been doing of late. 
If the Sons of Temperance are to undertake this work, it 
should be by means of some organization responsible to 
this body and amenable to its rules and regulations. I 
will not attempt to lay down any foundation principles, 
but simply to urge that you shall give the subject the con- 
sideration which its importance demands, and that you 
will determine to commence in the home with the child 
and so train and teach him that by and by the work we 
do may have its fit culmination in the spread of our prin- 
ciples in the coming generation, which shall be made 
better and wiser through the influence of our example. 

In resigning into your hands, as I shall very shortly, 
the responsibility of this office which you entrusted to me 
two years ago, I desire to thank you one and all for the 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE 5°3 

many kindly words and acts which I have experienced at 
your hands during my term of office. As I shall step 
down and out of this office I do so with the feeling that 
the Order is stronger to-day than it was when I accepted 
the election at your hands. I claim but little of the credit 
for this work; simply claiming that I have done what I 
could and endeavored to direct your efforts in the proper 
channels which will result in the upbuilding of this Order. 
Looking forward, I believe the day is not far distant 
when we shall see the culmination of our labors, and 
when the day of Jubilee shall be enjoyed. As I look over 
the field the signs of the coming harvest greet my eyes on 
every side. It cannot be that the work of the labors of all 
these years is to be without an appropriate heritage. The 
labors of the fathers, the determination of the children, 
must in time bear appropriate fruitage, and as we gaze 
with strained eyesight, looking for what the future may 
have for us in store, we can hear, in imagination at least, 
the sound of the huzzas for the coming victory. We can 
realize the fact that as God is merciful, as our cause is 
just, so the right must ultimately triumph; and as we 
stand here to-day, conscious of the rectitude of our pur- 
poses and earnest in our devotion to the principles of 
right, so we leave in the hands of our Father the solu- 
tion of the great problem, and go bravely forward 
determined to do our duty, to labor with whatever ability 
he has given us, and some time, in His own good time and 
in His own good way, we shall be greeted with the sounds 
of the ultimate triumph. 



504 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

INSTALLATION OF OFFICERS 

Retiring Address 

by eugene h. clapp, m. w. p. 

Most Worthy Representatives: 

In a very few moments now it becomes my duty to 
again return to you the badge of office, with its attendant 
duties and responsibilities, which you placed upon me two 
years ago in the city of New Haven. I return the same 
in your hands, conscious that I have been able to fill only 
a part of the responsibility entrusted to me. Various 
circumstances, unforeseen at the time, have prevented my 
giving that measure of time to the duties of the office 
which I could otherwise have wished. I made no 
promise upon assuming this office except that I would 
try to do my duty as a Son of Temperance. In this 
spirit I have labored these two years, and to-day I stand 
in your presence believing in the future of our Order, 
trusting in the greatness of our cause, and knowing that 
the day of our ultimate triumph is but deferred a little. 
I thank you one and all for the many kindnesses I have 
experienced at your hands during these two. years. I 
have been treated in a fraternal manner by every member 
of our Order, and in the future when I look over these 
years in the light of the memory I shall recall nothing 
which is unpleasant which I received at your hands, and 
can only recall the two happiest years of work I ever per- 
formed. I thank you again and again for these many 
expressions of your good will, and return to you the 
emblem of office unsoiled, I hope, by any act or word of 
mine. 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE 5°5 

INAUGURAL ADDRESS 

BY R. A. TEMPLE AT HIS INSTALLATION AS M. W. P. 

Beloved Fathers and Brethren: 

I accept the high honor which you have conferred upon 
me, not only as a recognition on your part of the absolute 
unity of our Order " under two flags " on this continent, 
but also as an emphatic demonstration of your approval 
of my administration of the affairs of the Most Worthy 
Scribe's office during the last four years. I tremble 
under the weight of the responsibilities which your gen- 
erous preference has delegated to me, and assume with 
diffidence and solicitude the reins which my predecessors 
held with such masterly hand. But the unvaried kind- 
ness and courtesy extended to me in my official relations 
during the last two terms are, you will allow me to 
believe, a sufficient guarantee that I shall have your 
sympathy and support in the higher and more important 
functions of your chief officer. For a period of nearly 
forty years I have given my hand and heart to the 
advancement of the interests of this great Order ; and the 
same elements and principles of action which won for 
me the honor of your confidence I propose to embark on 
the wider field of executive responsibility. I am, from 
principle and education, an engrained prohibitionist ; 
but I counsel my brothers and sisters of this National 
Division that they do not allow the contest for prohibition 
to diminish the intensity of their ardor in building up our 
Order as impregnable rampart and base of operations. 
Let us- concentrate ourselves this day to a mighty effort 
which shall be worthy of the traditions of this time- 
honored Order, Let us seek to enwaken from the 



506 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Atlantic to the Pacific the moral forces which lie dor- 
mant in our Order, and harness them for aggressive 
*work. Omnipotent influences are at our bidding. We 
are fighting " God's battle." With the Son of Man for 
our model, and for our motto, Enlistment and Ad- 
vancement, for God and the Right, let us bravely take 
the field, and at the end of the term the verdict of con- 
science within, of the brotherhood around, and the father- 
hood above, shall be, " well done, good and faithful 
servant ! " 



THE CONCLUSION 

From an Address 

by r. alder temple, m. w. p. 

The labors of the past year have gone into history, but 
the future, with its augmented responsibilities, lies 
before us. Let us meet its duties with heroic faith, and 
on the righteousness of our cause " build, as on an 
adamantine rock, our mountain hope." Our enterprise 
is godlike and is fraught with interests which shall out- 
live to-morrow. If it is true that there is nothing more 
precious than life, and that there is nothing so kingly as 
man ; if the greatest mechanical triumphs are dwarfed in 
their grandeur before that superior greatness which is 
moral and restorative, so that the man who levels a moun- 
tain or who chains the lightning does a lesser thing than 
he who wakes up a drunkard's conscience and saves him 
from a drunkard's doom, then I claim a tribute of recog- 
nition and imperial honors for this grand old Ordef; and 
I claim for the men who laid its keel and shaped its ribs 
a guerdon of imperishable remembrance. There are 



SONS OF TEMPERANCE 5^7 

some who say that the life has gone out of our Order, 
and that there is no marrow in its bones. Let our grow- 
ing ardor take the edge from this taunt. We are 
" immortal till our work is done " ; and the grandeur of 
our work shall stimulate our zeal, and zeal shall tread 
upon the heels of duty. Everything around us — the 
march of events, the voices of nature, the throb of life, 
the inquest of mind — all rebuke our lethargy. The stars 
in their courses, the rivers in their flow, the forests in 
their growth — all are in earnest. The votaries of Mam- 
mon, the architects of human ruin, the caterers for the 
vile orgies of hell, are lashed into intensest energy. Let 
us not be laggards on our heaven-appointed road. With 
the noblest work in the universe to do, and royal facilities 
to do it with; with the obligations of duty and the vows 
of brotherhood upon us; with the wail of agonized 
humanity ringing in our ears, and with death knocking 
at our doors, in the name of high heaven let us spring to 
action and maintain this holy strife for God and home 
and country. And then, if it please God that our eyes 
shall see the day of final triumph, " when this cruel war 
is over," when the last gun shall have been fired, and 
church bells shall ring and bonfires blaze ; when Prohibi- 
tion shall be throned in queenly beauty, and the dew of 
Hermon shall descend on the hill Parnassus, 

And love's millennial morn shall rise 
In happy hearts and blessed eyes; 

then we shall " lay our armor by " and sing, " Thy sun 
shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw 
itself, for the Lord shall be thy everlasting light, and the 
days of thy mourning shall be ended/' 



CADETS OF TEMPERANCE 

Historical. — Several junior temperance societies were formed 
by independent movements under the stimulus of the formation 
of the Sons of Temperace, designed to reach boys too young to 
join the latter Order. But the first considerable movement which 
resulted in a permanent organization was under the patronage of 
the Hon. Robert M. Forest, a Son of Temperance and leading 
citizen of Philadelphia, Morning Star Section No. 2, being organ- 
ized in that city January 26, 1847; and in February following a 
number of Sections came to Mr. Forest's residence, at his invita- 
tion, and took measures which secured the organization of a 
Grand Section embracing a number of Subordinate bodies. Sev- 
eral other leading Sons of Temperance co-operated in this work, 
and the plan of organization placed the Order of Cadets under 
the protection of the senior Order, and certain Sons of Tem- 
perance were assigned as " Patrons " to attend the junior meet- 
ings and assist in their work. 

The Order in Pennsylvania grew to a membership of over 2000, 
and about 50 Sections. There has been strong growth in New 
York and Maryland, each of those States having, also, a Grand 
Section. In other States the progress has been less raf>id. Some 
attempts have been made to form a National Body, corresponding 
to the National Division of the adult Order, but as yet with no 
success, the need of such a controlling body not being felt while 
the Sections are all under the care and supervision of the Patron 
constantly present with them. 

Probably this dependent condition of the Junior Order stands 
in the way of its rapid growth; yet there is little doubt that great 
good has been accomplished by its work. 



THE WORK AMONG THE YOUNG 

BY F. M. BRADLEY, P. M. W. P. 

In this hour of rejoicing, when all hearts are filled with 
the inspiration that comes from the consideration of the 
magnificent record of a half century of work for human- 
ity, I am asked to collect and present to you in a brief 

509 



5io THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

paper the work that has been done for childhood and 
youth by our beloved Order during the past fifty years. 

The task is an impossible one! I have vainly sought 
for the material. The printed and written journals of the 
Order are filled with legislation rather than with results. 
All of us who read or prepare papers relative to benevo- 
lent, charitable, temperance, or religious matters, realize 
the poverty of language and the inability of dry figures 
to satisfy those who have been participants in the work, 
and during these Jubilee exercises, while reading the well- 
prepared reports of our officers and committees, we will 
at the same time be reading between the lines, and 
memory will fill in many facts and incidents that will 
lend an added charm to the history of the past. With one 
hand resting on the birth-place of the Order and the 
other grasping the hills of the eternal world, we shall fill 
all the intervening space with a heart record that will not 
be found in any of the brilliant papers presented during 
this anniversary week. 

What service has the Order of Sons of Temperance 
rendered to the childhood and youth of this Continent 
during half a century ? As it is not recorded in the books, 
to whom shall we go? 

Come with me, and we will take an unlimited express 
train and we will interview the veterans of our Order, 
who, in storm and sunshine, at home and abroad, under 
the flag of Stripes and Stars, and under the Cross of St. 
George, in North and South, in East and West, by rivers 
great and small, along the ocean beach where the waves 
make sweet music, and far up among the mountain peaks 
that lift their heads toward heaven, we will find the 
veteran workers of our Order who these many years have 
been teaching children that " wine is a mockery/' that 
God did not create alcohol, and that drinking causes 



CADETS OF TEMPERANCE S" 

drunkenness. We will find scores of them at our start- 
ing point in the City of New York, and then as we 
journey southward we will receive many a warm hand- 
clasp and listen to many an enthusiastic story from the 
tried and true as we journey through faithful New Jersey, 
through Pennsylvania, where our juvenile work had its 
beginning; and even little Delaware cannot be passed by 
in silence. Maryland and District of Columbia extend to 
us warm fraternal greetings, and add their share to the 
testimony we are collecting. Thence, crossing the his- 
toric Potomac, for days and nights we pass along the 
Atlantic coast, where, in olden days, we numbered scores 
of thousands of Sons of Temperance, valiant and true in 
the work of educating the boys and girls. Then passing 
from the orange-groves of Florida across to the Gulf of 
Mexico, we ascend the Father of Waters to the little 
lake where the Mississippi begins its great commercial 
mission, then far across mountain and prairie, until some 
bright morning our eyes rest upon the waters of the Pa- 
cific — and in all these thousands of miles toward sunset we 
follow in the track of those who organized and perpetuated 
our beloved Order, and furnished heroes and heroines to 
train both children and adults to hate the liquor curse. 

And now, reaching the utmost western and northern 
limit of the States, we cross the border line and at Van- 
couver we begin our journey eastward through the great 
Canadian territory to Winnipeg, and onward thousands 
of miles to Toronto and Ottawa and Montreal, St. John, 
Halifax, and Charlottetown, and everywhere along the 
line thousands of veteran workers receive us with music 
and song and send us on our way rejoicing toward New- 
foundland, where even fire cannot destroy the enthusiasm 
of our Temperance hosts, Then New England, with its 
great multitude of workers, gives us such a welcome that 



512 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

it takes many days to listen to the words of greeting 
and hear the record of work for childhood and youth. 
And even now our journey is not complete, for we have 
yet to visit the Central Western States from the moun- 
tains of Tennessee to the Ohio River and thence to the 
Great Lakes, a territory which has achieved results second 
to no other portion of our international jurisdiction. 
And now you can understand why I said we would take 
an unlimited express train. 

And how shall we record all we have learned? Why, 
dear friends, we found this record deeply graven in 
human hearts, and we have simply transferred it to our 
own hearts and cannot put it on paper. Why should we 
try? You have furnished the facts and incidents. As 
we sat with you at eventide, in your own homes, you gave 
us the record of service in behalf of our boys and girls. 
And to-day, as you listen to the reading of this paper, 
your minds and hearts go backward over the years, and 
the work of life comes vividly before you. 

Our unlimited express train made a grand circuit of 
the Continent, and yet it did not reach all the workers 
who, in these fifty years, have brightened the hearts and 
homes of the people of two nations. Shall we endeavor 
to complete the work? Many of the loved faces have 
passed from our sight. Hands that were joined with 
ours in the battle for the rights of childhood have been 
crossed peacefully over hearts that have ceased to beat. 
Would that we might look into their faces again. 

Let us find a fairy ship and launch it in mid-air, and 
take our seats and with an angelic pilot start on our voy- 
age upward to find our veterans who have gone before ! 
Now we sail through the light fleecy clouds, through 
the sunshine, past the bow of promise as it spans the arch 
above us, upward where the sunbeams have their birth. 



CADETS OF TEMPERANCE 513 

higher yet until we make the sentinel stars our friends 
to light us onward toward the " Better Land " ! And 
now as we come nearer and still nearer to the jasper walls, 
we see the pearly gates open wide, and our eyes rest upon 
the golden streets of the new Jerusalem and the ineffable 
glories of the Home of the Redeemed, and involuntarily 
we say : 

O wondrous land ! 
Fairer than all our spirits fairest dreaming; 

" Eye hath not seen," no heart can understand 
The things prepared, the cloudless radiance streaming. 

Here there is no need of sun, or moon, or stars. The 
face of the dear Saviour of men is the light of the 
" sweet by-and-by," its atmosphere is the escaped fra- 
grance of the flowers of earth, and its music is the song 
of the redeemed and the still sweeter songs that have 
floated upward from the homes of earth ! 

But brighter than all the other glories of this land are 
the happy faces of those with whom we walked and talked 
and worked in this earthly home, for here are gathered 
our loved ones, from Daniel H. Sands to Eugene H. 
Clapp! May we not stand awhile on the banks of the 
beautiful river that flows by the throne of God and look 
into these dear, familiar faces that from year to year have 
faded from our sight! Perchance we may listen to the 
voices that have been so long hushed, whose absence has 
left our pathway lonely. How happy they are ! They 
have borne the heat and burden of earthly life, and now 
in this beautiful home they are growing into perfect man- 
hood and womanhood, unstained by impurities of earth! 

They taste the rich fruitage that hangs from the trees, 

And breathe the sweet odors of flowers, 
More fragrant than ever were kissed by the breeze 

In Araby's loveliest bowers. 



5H THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

While our eyes see, and our ears hear, and our hearts 
take in the magnificence, the sweetness, the unutterable 
joys of this bright world of the blest, we soon realize 
that the volume of earthly history traced by angel-fingers 
is not for us to read, until, like our loved ones, we too have 
changed the mortal for the immortal — until we too rest 
from earthly labor in this sweet home of the Redeemed. 

And so, like one of old who was caught up into heaven 
and saw and heard things not lawful for him to utter, we 
also retrace our pathway through the stars, through the 
bright sunshine, past the clouds, and down again to 
earth, inspired by all we have seen and heard to better 
service for the Master than we have heretofore rendered, 
and as our angelic pilot disappears there comes to us from 
the upper air the precious words, " Be ye faithful unto 
death, and I will give you a crown of life." 

Not until we join hands with those who have gone 
before can we fully realize the splendid work that has 
been done by and through the Order for the temperance 
% training of the children. 

The first reference to work for young people in the 
printed journals of the Order is found in the proceedings 
of the Grand Division of New York, at a session held 
January 9, 1844, when the resolution following was pre- 
sented and referred to a committee: 

Resolved, That the Constitution of the Order of the 
Sons of Temperance be so amended as to permit and 
invite the accession of temperance youths not less than 
sixteen years of age, with the consent of the parent of 
guardian of each, respectively, to become members of 
our Order, but in no case to be permitted either to hold 
office or to vote in the Division until they arrive at the 
age of twenty-one years. 



CADETS OF TEMPERANCE 515 

This resolution died in committee. 

It was not until the latter part of 1846 that the first 
successful effort was made by Sons of Temperance to 
form a boys' temperance association. To Bro. W. H. 
Stokes of Pennsylvania belongs the honor of originating 
the Cadets of Temperance. Soon afterward, Bro. Robert 
M. Foust was associated with Bro. Stokes in this great 
work, and during 1847, the organization was extended 
into New York, Maine, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, 
Virginia, and Kentucky, and by 1850 the boys were at 
work in nearly every one of the then existing States of 
the Union. The writer of this paper became a Cadet of 
Temperance in the District of Columbia in 185 1, and the 
enthusiasm and zeal of that movement in those early days 
is indelibly impressed on heart and brain. Many of the 
leading temperance workers of to-day received their first 
and perhaps their best training in these Sections of Cadets. 

I shall not attempt to give a connected history of the 
Cadets, as it would take more space than is permitted to 
this entire paper. Their work has continued since 1846 
with varying results. In Pennsylvania, especially, they 
have been and are to-day a great power for good, and as 
the Order of Sons of Temperance has helped them, so 
they have been of vast benefit to the Order. 



LOYAL CRUSADERS 

The first edition of the Loyal Crusaders Manual was 
issued on the 1st of May, 1890, with an address to the 
Order as follows : 

To the Sons of Temperance of North America, Greeting : 

By order of the National Division, a new organization 

for children and youth has been called into existence. 



516 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

We present it to you and commend it to your love and 
fraternal watch-care. It is new in all respects, having 
a new, simple, and beautiful ritual, a new name, a 
new badge, new odes, and new supplies manufac- 
tured to order for this special work by the National Di- 
vision. 

Ere we assemble in the City of New York in 1892, to 
celebrate the semi-centennial of our Order, we wish to 
have enrolled hundreds of thousands of Loyal Crusaders. 
This is not extravagant. The children are ready, and 
you may organize them if you will. This continent is to 
be redeemed from the drink curse by and through the 
education of the boys and girls of to-day. It is your 
privilege to participate in this educational work. We 
come to you, therefore, in full faith that you will aid to 
the extent of your ability in establishing and perpetuat- 
ing the organization to be known as the Loyal Cru- 
saders. 

It is your work, do not shrink from it ! 

" With malice toward none, with charity for all, with 
firmness in the right as God has given us to see the right," 
we should solemnly and gladly take up this new duty and 
enjoy this new privilege. Our pledge of fidelity, taken 
at the altar of our beloved Order, binds us to never-ceas- 
ing warfare against drink. In the interests of the 
children let us renew this pledge, and maintain it as long 
as life shall last, and perhaps some of us and many of our 
Loyal Crusaders may live until this New World, re- 
deemed from the thralldom of the liquor-crime, shall 
stand out in all its original loveliness, in God's pure sun- 
shine, so that once again may be heard the blessed angel- 
song coming down to us through the ages, " Glory to 
God in the highest, on earth peace and good will 

TO MEN/' , . . 



CADETS OF TEMPERANCE 5*7 

It is the purpose of the National Division to make our 
Loyal Crusaders the brightest, happiest, and most 
aggressive children's organization in existence. Hand 
in hand our young people are to march across the Con- 
tinent and rescue it from the grasp of our enemy Alcohol ! 
With banner and song, with sword and National flag, 
with the pledge as our shield, invoking the blessing and 
guidance of our Father in Heaven, our bright-faced 
army takes up its line of march! 

Place no obstacles in the pathway of these dear ones, 
whose lives brighten so many homes, but give them your 
helping hand over the rough places in their onward and 
upward journey. You cannot all be " worthy com- 
manders," but you may cheer and encourage the young 
soldiers as they pass along. Their hearts are full of 
faith and hope and love. You can see this in the spar- 
kling eye, the buoyant look, the quick step, the happy face. 
The world is all before them, and we may help them make 
their lives a psalm of praise to God, a benediction to the 
world ! They have enlisted for the war, and " The Re- 
treat " is not found among their marching songs. 

We who are older in years, yet young in spirit, will 
gain new strength for our own battles by looking into 
the hopeful faces of our Loyal Crusaders, who, overcom- 
ing all difficulties, building up pure, manly, and womanly 
lives, working out their salvation in the name of the 
crucified and risen Saviour, shall at last, one by one, 
reach the Beautiful City whose streets are of gold, whose 
walls are jasper, whose gates are pearl,- and whose maker 
and builder is God ! 

Since the address was issued, the results of the work 
have not been all that we have desired or expected, yet 
with our enrollment of thousands of Loyal Crusaders is 



518 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION . 

the nucleus of the great army that is to help us destroy 
the curse of drink. These Companies of Loyal Cru- 
saders are full of enthusiasm, full of faith and hope and 
love, and they are doing more to help us than we are 
doing to help them. 



INDEPENDENT ORDER OF GOOD 
TEMPLARS 

Historical. — This society, which has grown to the foremost 
rank among temperance fraternities, may be traced back to a 
company of boys in Utica, N. Y., in 1850-51. These boys had 
been organized as a Section of Cadets of Temperance, under the 
care of the Sons of Temperance. Some of them wished to have 
an independent society, to which only the older boys should be 
admitted, and in 1858 Mr. Daniel Cady, of Lansingburgh, N. Y., 
who had founded the Cadets of Temperance, came to Utica and 
instituted among them a new Order named the Knights of 
Jericho. In 185 1 the Order was reorganized under the name of 
Good Templars, and the constitution was altered to admit women 
to membership. The Rev. D. W. Bristol, D. D., presiding elder 
in the Utica District, prepared a new ritual, and the number of 
lodges increased to thirteen. In a convention of these in Utica, 
the same year, a disagreement led to the withdrawal of some, and 
the organizing of a new society with the name The Indepentent 
Order of Good Templars, under which name a Grand Lodge was 
organized at Syracuse in 1852, which succeeded in drawing both 
factions into itself. Spreading into other States, the Right Worthy 
Grand Lodge of North America was organized at Cleveland, O., 
in 1855, by representatives from nine States and the Province of 
Canada. 

At the session of the National Lodge at Louisville, Ky., in 1876, 
there was a difference of opinion as to certain legislation pertain- 
ing to the admission of negroes into the Order; and the repre- 
sentatives from Great Britain, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, 
with two from Indiana and one each from Ohio and Iowa, with- 
drew from the session and organized a " Right Worthy Grand 
Lodge of the World." This body worked separately from the 
main body for ten years, but at the Saratoga session, in 1887, the 
two bodies were harmoniously reunited. 

The Order of Good Templars adopted certain new features at 
the time of their organization, which have been adopted later in 
some degree by other societies. The Sons of Temperance at that 
time admitted men only to membership, a separate Order having 
been formed for women, while boys were grouped in Sections of 
" Cadets." The Good Templars admitted women to full mem- 
bership in their Order, and, looking upon their Order as an edu- 
cative institution, they took their children into the meetings of 
the lodge with them, thus making it a family institution. Subse- 
quently they established a system of Juvenile Templars, in which 

5i9 



520 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

children of all ages were trained in the teachings of the society 
by competent superintendents. 

In 1888 the Supreme Lodge promulgated a system of thorough 
Temperance training and study, consisting of three years' reading 
of certain prescribed books, so arranged that reading for forty- 
five minutes each weekday for nine months in the year will carry 
them through the course. The books recommeded are by the 
ablest writers on Temperance in England and America. 

The mingling of the sexes and of old and young in the regular 
meetings of the lodge makes them a social resort of the highest 
character, and the most beneficial influence. 

It was thought best to have no system of benefits, but the 
financial management of the expenses of the Order is arranged 
according to the best principles, and has been highly successful 
in all the Order. 

The following platform of principles was adopted by the Right 
Worthy Grand Lodge in 1859, and has never been altered: 

1st. Total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors as a bever- 
age. 

2d. No license, in any form or under any circumstances, for 
the sale of such liquors, to be used as a beverage. 

3d. The absolute prohibition of the manufacture, importation, 
and sale of intoxicating liquors for such purposes — prohibition by 
the will of the people, expressed in due form of law, with the 
penalties deserved for a crime of such enormity. 

4th. The creation of a healthy public opinion upon the subject, 
by the active dissemination of truth in all the modes known to an 
enlightened philanthropy. 

5th. The election of good, honest men to administer the laws. 

6th. Persistence in efforts to save individuals and communities 
from so direful a scourge, against all forms of opposition and 
difficulty, until our success is complete and universal. 

Besides its rapid growth through the United States, the Order 
appeared in England in 1868, and soon after in Scotland, Ireland, 
and Wales, and later in France, Switzerland, Asia, Africa, and 
Australasia. 

Its present membership is about 600,000. The membership in 
the United States is about 350,000, besides 50,000 Juvenile Tem- 
plars. It is commonly regarded as the strongest organized 
opponent of the liquor traffic. 



ORDER OF GOOD TEMPLARS 521 

EDUCATING TEMPERANCE OPINION* 

BY JAMES H. RAPEN, ESQ., LONDON, ENGLAND. 

Mr. President : My researches into the characteristics 
and general conditions of this country, and especially as 
regards the temperance reformation, have led me to an 
acquaintance with so many excellences which command 
my respect, and even affection, that I have ever and anon 
to repeat to myself a portion of a valuable English poem, 
and say : 

" Old England forever ! No power shall sever 
My heart from the land of my birth. 
'Tis the land of the free, as it ever shall be; 
'Tis the happiest land upon earth." 

and conclude with : 

" Shall I leave thee for others ? No, never ! 
Where'er I may roam, still thou art my home; 
Old England's my country forever." 

It is thus that I keep myself from becoming too greatly 
Americanized; and to-day, with Mr. Bromhall of Lon- 
don, and Mr. W. S. Caine of Liverpool, I represent " The 
United Kingdom Alliance for the Total Suppression of 
the Liquor Traffic. " This organization, like the one 
which held its glorious meeting in the Academy of 
Music yesterday, the " Woman's Christian Temperance 
Union," is an efflux of the temperance reformation. It 
was formed to do a portion of the work of that reforma- 
tion, and not by any means to substitute other agencies 
in active operation. Its object is expressed in its name. 
It aims to create a public opinion which will lead to an 

* From an address at a World's Temperance Jubilee in Phila- 
delphia. 



522 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

enactment totally prohibiting the legalized traffic in in- 
toxicating liquors, with its General Council, including 
residents in all parts of Great Britain and Ireland, with 
an Executive Council in the City of Manchester. The 
lecturing agents of the Alliance cover all parts of the 
Kingdom, and the work of educating public opinion 
through the press and platform goes on without any 
intermission. The subscriptions and expenditures have 
amounted in a single year to $100,000 or £20,000 sterling. 
The battle is a severe one, and the obstacles to progress 
by no means small or few ; but the noble men and women 
who are banded together are animated by the highest 
motives, and they are resolved to persevere until com- 
plete triumph attends their labors. A great change in 
public opinion has already taken place, and there is an 
increasing conviction that the traffic in intoxicating 
liquors is inimical to the welfare of the country, and 
ought to be prohibited. The continued and earnest 
demand for such an enactment is resulting in consider- 
able numbers of influential men coming forward to 
advocate at least diminuation in the number of licensed 
liquor sellers, and greater restrictions in the hours and 
conditions of sale. No fewer than seven bills of this 
kind have been placed before the British Parliament this 
year, and, in regard to the sale of liquors in Ireland on 
Sundays, a resolution proposed by Dr. Smyth, member of 
Parliament for Londonderry, was last month carried by 
a majority of fifty-seven. This majority was secured in 
opposition to the Government and all the combined in- 
fluences of the liquor party. The resolution may not be 
followed by the enactment of a law this year, but this 
signal triumph will doubtless effect that result at an early 
period. Other measures I will not describe in detail, but 
they all point towards the diminution of the power of 



ORDER OF GOOD TEMPLARS 5^3 

temptation and towards enactments with which Amer- 
icans are familiar. The United Kingdom Alliance is 
vigorously supporting what is called the " Permission 
Prohibitory Liquor Bill/' which has been introduced by 
Sir Wilfred Lawson. This measure is similar to your 
" Local Option " acts, and by it we hope to give effective 
form to the opinion which temperance reformers are 
continually creating. 

We find the work of all the departments largely coun- 
teracted by the liquor traffic, and hence we are demand- 
ing that all communities desiring to be free shall be pro- 
tected, so that the traffic may not be forced upon them 
against their will, which is the case at the present time. 
Your municipal institutions have, from the commence- 
ment of the movement, been much more favorable to pro- 
tective operations than have those of Great Britain. The 
licensing authority with us has been outside the direct 
influence of the people. With you there was power at 
once to elect licensing boards in accordance with the 
rising tide of temperance conviction. I have made it a 
special object of inquiry to discover how far the special 
advantages which you have have been used, and I find 
that to this power of fixing responsibility, and making it 
necessary for the most indifferent to take sides, you owe 
much of the advanced position, compared with Britain, 
which you now occupy. Your teachings of the pulpit 
and platform and press have been supplemented by your 
action at the polls. The ballot h^s aided the cause. I 
have found this to be the case in regions far apart, right 
across the continent; and every illustration of its power 
has increased my anxiety that the mother country should 
be possessed of similar power of protection for the fam- 
ilies, churches, schools, and cities. It is impossible to say 
how much I have valued some of your advantages ; and 



524 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

I am confirmed in my conviction that Britain has to look 
westward to find out the best method of solving the 
great problem of " How to Stop Drunkenness/' As- 
suredly little light can be obtained from the continental 
nations. Only west of the Atlantic are illustrations of 
the true relation which civilized communities should hold 
to the liquor traffic. It was holding such a conviction 
that made me resolve that, on arriving in the United 
States, I should land in a State where the sale of liquor, 
instead of being fostered and regulated, was prohibited. 
I, therefore, resolved to sail to Portland in preference to 
New York, Boston, or even Philadelphia. In Portland 
and throughout Maine I had the intense gratification of 
knowing that any liquor which was sold was in contraven- 
tion of law rather than with the sanction of law and part- 
nership in the wrong. To walk along the streets of such 
cities where the sale of liquor as beverages is illegal gives 
me a consciousness of being in civilization as compared 
with the degrading system of corruption with which we 
are familiar. 

Since my arrival I have seen wonderful sights in the 
regions of the East as well as in the far West of Cali- 
fornia; but the sight which has given me the greatest 
delight was a liquor seller in a Maine prison, and shaking 
hands with him. The man was there, not for selling at 
improper hours, but for selling that which was prohibited 
at all hours and all places. I had before me the proof 
that what was legal in Philadelphia was a crime in 
Maine. This is the work which we have at this con- 
vention and throughout all our countries: to hasten to 
create an opinion so high and strong that everywhere this 
traffic in alcoholic liquors will be regarded as a crime. 
Last week I was in Washington, and, amid the many 
exciting scenes of the capital, I had the gratification of 



ORDER OF GOOD TEMPLARS 525 

conversing with Senator Morrill of Maine. It was most 
encouraging to find that the venerable and venerated 
statesman held firmly by the opinion which he expressed 
in the Senate, that the system we oppose is the " gigantic 
crime 'of crimes.'' Such a characterization of the des- 
olating traffic is worthy of the Senator from Maine, and 
it is our duty to act as though it was true. I may venture 
to say that we in Britain look to the United States and 
America generally to keep in the van of the movement, 
and we hope that in every department of the temperance 
reformation such efforts may be put forth as to secure a 
speedy emancipation from " the crime of crimes." We 
are coming to the conclusion that you are right in your 
watchword, " Vote as you pray," and that those who wish 
the kingdom of righteousness to be established must 
show their desires by acting as well as wishing, so that 
such men may be selected to execute the laws as worthily 
represent the true temperance opinion of our nations. 



INDEPENDENT ORDER OF RECHABITES 

Historical. — This society was formed at Salford, England, in 
1835, thus antedating all other modern beneficiary, temperance, 
or total-abstinence secret societies. 

Its name is taken from the Bible story of Jonadab the son of 
Rechab, who became famous for his total abstinence vow, in 
obedience to the command of his father. This abstinence be- 
came a settled principle in the tribe, and caused their filial con- 
stancy to be kept up as an example to the Israelites by the 
Prophet Jeremiah (xxxvi: 6, 18, 19) with assurance of the divine 
blessing. 

A few total abstainers of Salford wished to found a benefit 
society based upon their principles. Most fraternities of the time 
held their meetings in taverns, and made convivial drinking a 
common part of their gatherings. The Independent Order of 
Rechabites made a new movement. They called their place of 
meeting a Tent, as the sons of Rechab were charged : " All your 
days ye shall dwell in tents." 

By rather slow increase they had in 1854 only 7000 members, 
but were legally registered as a friendly society; and in 1869 had 
13,884 members, of whom over 5000 were in other countries. In 
1842 the Order was extended to the United States, and has its 
headquarters at Washington, D. C. It has Tents in nine States, 
but the American membership is only about 4000. In the British 
Colonies, however, in Canada, Australia, the West Indies, and 
South Africa, it has been more prosperous, and the total mem- 
bership in all countries is said to be about 220,000. 



TEMPERANCE IN NEW ZEALAND 

From an Address 

by john harding, esq., of new zealand. 

Mr, President: I have the honor to represent what, 
up to some three or four year ago, or perhaps less, was 
the old lady's youngest baby, the youngest colony of the 
British possessions; but we have lost the privilege of 

527 



528 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

being the baby, for a little while ago the old lady had 
another child; it is Feejee. I am very proud to say that 
I belong to what was until recently the youngest child 
of that dear old lady, Mrs. John Bull. I am proud to 
say that in representing that country as I do, I am repre- 
senting a very large number of totalabstainers. It is but 
a little place, but for our number we have a goodly num- 
ber of teetotalers. I am sent to represent the Radicals. 
Possibly most, if not all, know that this is a beneficial 
society, composed entirely of total abstainers. I have a 
daughter present who is representing the Good Templars 
of New Zealand. I represented them in our 'Right 
Worthy Grand Lodge the other day. 

I will now tell you what we are doing in New Zealand. 
I almost feel like a baby. When at home, and even in 
Australia, I can look around and say: I don't think 
there is anybody here older in the temperance reform 
than I am ; but to-day I have heard you, Mr. Chairman, 
and some other friends that I heard about when I was a 
little boy. I remember reading Dr. Lyman Beecher's 
sermons when I was quite a little fellow, and I 
believe these laid the groundwork in my mind of 
what I afterwards became — a temperance advocate. I 
have been that for more than forty years, and, please God, 
will be so till my dying day. I have never regretted it 
once. I am happy to see here our dear brother who was 
over among us the other day — Brother Hastings. 

In New Zealand we have, I think, altogether something 
like, in the island I represent, 1400 or 1500 Rechabites. 
In New Zealand we have altogether something like 11,000 
or 12,000 Good Templars in good standing; and besides 
these, we have Bands of Hope connected with almost 
every Christian Church throughout the island. There 
are exceptions. A goodly number of our ministers are 



INDEPENDENT ORDER OF RECHABITES 5 2 9 

pledged teetotalers, but I am sorry to say a very large 
proportion are not, and that amongst that number we find 
some of our greatest opponents, even up to the present 
time. I hope the time is not far distant when that will 
no longer be. 

I think I must now conclude by saying how glad I am 
to see here to-day so many of the fathers of the temper- 
ance cause, whose names are as familiar to me almost as 
the names of my own family; but I could wish that I 
could see one or two that for years I have longed to see— 
Delavan, and one or two others who have passed away. 
I don't know if that dear gentleman is present, but, if so, 
I hope to shake hands with him — the Hon. Neal Dow. 
I love him as a father, and from him have obtained many 
and many a speech, text, and argument from his speeches 
and letters. I have used them on the temperance plat- 
form many times, and ought to be tried like they were 
trying a minister the other day, for using those letters, 
and speeches, and articles ; but then it w r as to do good, 
and I always gave credit to the Hon. Neal Dow for the 
speeches, etc. I am glad to see you all here to-day, and 
shake hands with the veterans in the cause. 

[As Mr. Harding left the platform the Hon. Neal 
Dow, who was sitting in the front seat, rose, and they 
shook hands amid the cheers of the entire congregation.] 



TEMPLARS OF HONOR AND TEMPERANCE 

Historical. — This Order began in a Division of the Sons of 
Temperance, and grew out of the desire of some members for a 
more elaborate ritual and its educative influence in strengthening 
reformed men. The Sons of Temperance had been in existence 
three years, and members of Marshall Division of Sons of Tem- 
perance, in New York City, undertook, June 2, 1845, to organize 
a strictly total-abstinence association, having in view an impres- 
sive and practical ceremony more lasting in its teachings than the 
intentionally simple ceremonies already in use. Their plan was 
to form a society within their society, only Sons of Temperance 
being admitted, or to establish a series of "higher degrees," 
founded upon the ideas of " Love, Purity, and Fidelity/' the motto 
of the Sons. They called their new society, " Marshall Temple 
of Honor, No. 1, Sons of Temperance," and called their members 
" Sons of Honor." 

The idea was attractive, and within a year fourteen Subordinate 
Temples had been organized, twelve in New York and one each in 
Philadelphia and Baltimore. The National Division of the Sons 
of Temperance, however, considered it inexpedient to incorporate 
this new Order within itself; and the Temples of Honor, Novem- 
ber 6, 1846, organized a supreme body of their own, and became 
an independent Order. 

The original three degrees have been increased to six, and the 
Order spread into all parts of the country; and has, also, members 
in England, Sweden, and Canada. 

It includes a social department, composed mainly of women, 
and controlled by them under the guidance of the " Inner Temple 
of the Grand Temple." 

A Junior department admits boys from twelve to fifteen 
years of age, and when eighteen they are eligible to the Temple 
of Honor. 

The Order suffered great loss of membership by the Civil War, 
its growth having been large in the South, Texas having no 
Subordinate Temples, and two Grand Temples. 

In 1878 the Order adopted an endowment plan to insure the 
lives of its members. 



531 



ROYAL TEMPLARS OF TEMPERANCE 

Historical. — This society was organized in Buffalo, N. Y., in 
1870, as the result of an effort to close the saloons on Sunday. It 
was founded by Cyrus K. Porter, who had for many years been 
identified with fraternal and temperance work as a Freemason, 
Odd Fellow, and Son of Temperance. The Order has a benefit 
fund from which it pays not more than $5000 to the family, 
orphans, or other dependents having an insurable interest in the 
life of a deceased member. The society was reorganized with the 
benefit system in 1877, and has grown rapidly, having a large 
membership in Canada, and also a Scandinavian branch. There 
are five Grand Councils in Canada, and seven in the United 
States. Both men and women are admitted to membersihp. 



LESSONS FROM OUR HISTORY 

Standing out in bold relief, as we look over our his- 
tory, is the fact that the Royal Templar Order always 
takes in conditions as they appear, and courageously 
meets them. The Supreme officer, for instance, in his 
last report, said : Realizing the fact that the one great 
hindrance to our growth is the slow payment of death 
claims, the Board of Directors, at the last meeting, called 
an Emergency Assessment to cover all unpaid liabilities. 
To lighten the burden on any who might for any cause 
be unable to promptly meet their portion when due, it was 
arranged that in such cases it could remain as a lien 
against their certificates, to be deducted on payment at 
death. It is hoped that very many will come promptly 
forward and pay at once, and thus help to give prompt 
relief, and we believe they will do so. When we realize 
the fact that at age 67 the actual mortality cost for one 

533 



534 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

year exceeds the amount of the assessment as charged 
against the oldest member of the Order, this extra call is 
not burdensome; and further, in view of the fact that 
the older members paid less proportionately than the 
younger is additional reason for the justice of the call. 

The field of operations is a wide one. Beneficiary 
claims have been paid in various parts of New York, 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New 
Jersey, Maine, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, 
and the District of Columbia, besides other States and 
Territories. Its work reaches the home of the mechanic 
in the city and the laborer in the rural districts. It takes 
into its ranks the best of the working classes, the bone 
and sinew of our nation. 

As showing the conscientious care exercised by the 
medical branch of the Order of Royal Templars, we note 
the following from the Supreme Medical Examiner : The 
majority of persons under 22 years of age have not 
reached their full physical growth ; their tissues are still 
in an unstable condition; neither physically, mentally, 
nor morally are they able to resist the temptations and 
endure the struggles of life without serious injury; they 
are immature. It is pertinent to suggest that in receiv- 
ing persons under 22 years of age great care should be 
exercised when admitting them into our Order. 

Our work is many sided, and that part of it represented 
in the Beautified Ritual has received much attention. 
M. A. C. Neill, the superintendent of the beautified work, 
has been indefatigable in her efforts. In a recent report 
she said : It is more difficult to revive a Council where 
apathy and indifference prevail than to arouse enthusiasm 
in a newly organized Council where the membership ex- 
pect to work and to build up that which will be a credit 
to them. The " Beautified Work " as it is now conducted 



ROYAL TEMPLARS OF TEMPERANCE 535 

does not yield the harvest it should, and the best results 
can never be obtained until Supreme and Grand Officers 
and organizers who come in direct contact with the newly 
organized Councils lay more stress upon the importance 
of adopting the beautified work as a means of holding 
together and adding to the original membership. The 
adoption of proper ritual work should become as impor- 
tant a part in the organization of a new Council as the 
granting of a charter, and if the Supreme and Grand 
Officers and organizers could be directed to communicate 
in some systematized manner regarding these Councils, 
their efforts could be seconded by the Superintendent and 
possibly a smaller percentage be allowed to drift on with- 
out interest or growth of any kind. 

Glancing over the history of the order of Royal Tem- 
plars, we note the spirit of charity plays a conspicuous 
part with the sense of justice. This Order, like all others, 
has to face the problem of saving itself from schemers. 
The Supreme Advocate, in a report, says : There is a 
class of cases that I find are receiving more attention in 
the home office than has been given them in former years, 
that is, the discrepancy often found in the age of the appli- 
cant for membership as stated in the application and the 
age disclosed on receipt of the proof of death. The case 

of 9 beneficiaries of , deceased, a member of 

Council, Michigan. Suit was commenced, by 

summons in Lanawee County, to recover the amount of 
the certificate, $1000. At the time of joining the Order 
her age was given as 50 years, when as a matter of fact 
it should have been given as 56 years and some months, a 
discrepancy of about seven years, which placed the party 
in another class. Issue was joined in the case, and two 
eminent attorneys retained by the plaintiffs. I visited 
these attorneys just before the case was reached for trial 



536 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

and made a lawful tender of the amount of insurance the 
deceased was entitled to receive upon the amount actually 
paid by her in assessments during her lifetime, to wit, 
$743.72, and a compromise was effected upon this basis, 
saving to the Order the net sum of $135.00. In cases 
where it can be proved there was an intentional mis- 
representation as to the age, the certificate is void. The 
usual claim, however, is that it was a mistake, but a 
mistake of seven years was difficult to excuse. 

From the Royal Templar. 



INSTITUTING A NEW COUNCIL 

An Address 

by chas. mills, supreme councilor. 

Rome was not built in a day, and the United States 
Government, though established for over a century, is 
but in the infancy of its growth, while the creation of the 
world by the Almighty took six days to complete. We 
are here to establish a new Council of Royal Templars, 
but this is only the beginning, and not the end, of the 
possibilities of this Council ; the formative and not the 
culminative part of the work. What has been true in the 
history of our Order as a whole will doubtless be true of 
this new Council in the years of its future existence. It 
will have its beginning, its growth, and its years of use- 
fulness. The fairest flower that grows in the garden has 
had to run the gauntlet of being hurt by bug or insect, 
drouth or frost, and the strongest tree in the forest has 
proved the law of the " survival of the fittest." So your 
Council, if it is to show the highest type of living, and 
put on beauty and strength, must overcome obstacles and 



ROYAL TEMPLARS OF TEMPERANCE 537 

stretch out into broader fields of usefulness. Life has 
no limit to its possibilities, and this Council with each 
growth of strength and beauty should see therein the 
opening of new vistas of increasing activity. 

Permit me to say that our Order, which to-day carries 
$16,000,000 of insurance for the protection of homes and 
widows and orphans, had to fight its way up through dif- 
ficulties, and now is paying out about $1000 each work- 
ing day of the year. Our grand Order has had a check- 
ered experience, but to-day it shines brighter because it 
has stood the fire of years that has tested it. The three 
Hebrew children showed a glory of character that never 
would have had such luster but for the trial of fire 
through which they passed. So it has been in the history 
of our Order, so it may prove in the life of this promising 
new Council. 

The Order of Royal Templars has withstood the cal- 
umny of invective and criticism, and distanced those in 
the race who looked on with jealous eye. We can afford 
to be magnanimous, and have no unkind word to say of 
our competitors. Starting out on our work in 1870 with 
but a handful of true men, we stand to-day 17,000 strong. 
If our membership stood shoulder to shoulder before this 
altar they would form a line three miles long. Yet when 
they stood at the first altar of our Order there was but a 
company smaller than that initiated this evening. This 
Council starting on its mission this evening may carry on 
a work as grand as the parent order, and even as far- 
reaching. 

Our Order extends the hand of welcome to those in the 
common walks of life — men and women of moral worth 
— as we issue certificates for $250, $500, $1000, and 
$2000. This offers no attraction to wild speculators, and 
does not bar, but rather invites, those of humbler means. 



53^ THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

Any person can carry one of these certificates, and father 
and mother, and son and daughter, can come into our 
fold. A record for our Order of over $7,000,000 paid to 
beneficiaries is our bright star in the fraternal firmament. 
We have a grade of assessments that has the approval of 
the National Fraternal Congress. The basic principle 
of the schedule of rates adopted by this Order is to 
change the grade from year to year, according to what 
are known as the combined experience tables, so the 
members of the same age will contribute each year enough 
to pay the losses that occur in their class, and by this 
equitable arrangement of rates each member is charged 
annually just what it costs to carry his insurance. This 
system of rate requires the members at a given age to 
pay exactly what it costs them for that year. The next 
year, when they are a year older, the actual cost is a 
little greater, and each is called upon to pay that addi- 
tional, and so on as the years go, each paying exactly its 
own cost, and no more. Under this system the per- 
petuity of the Order is assured, because at all times the 
members of a given age will take care of themselves. 
New members will not be bearing the burdens of the old, 
for each will be paying the exact cost of that year's pro- 
tection. 

Officers and members of this new Council, your in- 
terests are ours, and ours are yours, and with efforts 
united we must press on and on, until 

The strife is o'er, 

Our labor done, 
And we can count 

Our victory won. 

We have a membership whose average age is 43, a 
mortality of 14 per 1000, and a cost per membership for 



ROYAL TEMPLARS OF TEMPERANCE 539 

management that wins approval, and even commands 
admiration. In the family of fraternal insurance orders 
we are the second oldest, and have passed many mile- 
stones along our journey. The years of experience have 
not been lost upon us, but to-day we stand a tower of 
strength. We can look out over the plains where the 
nomadic tribes of labor lay exposed to the darts of the 
enemy, and invite them into our strong citadel. Out on 
the unprotected plain the family may be scattered, the 
widow may be left hopeless, and the orphan be left to the 
unkindly blast of adversity. But in our stronghold the 
family is secure, the widow enjoys a ray of hope, and the 
orphan sings in glee. Surely we can shout " Immanuel, 
God is with us/' and we believe He will be with us in all 
our undertakings. Officers and members of this new 
Council, dignify your labors by a right conception of the 
great and important work in which we are engaged, a 
work which covers our duty to our God, our neighbor, 
and ourselves. You cannot put too much effort and con- 
secration into a service that blesses in life and shines in 
eternity. 

PERSEVERANCE WINS 

BY SUPREME SECRETARY J. W. GROSVENER, M. D. 

Did you ever watch the spider spin his web? The 
unkindly breeze blows some branch or twig against one 
of his main stays. He soon repairs the damage and 
persists in his work, and though some other, mistake 
comes to his work, again he makes his effort count, and 
with a persistence that cannot be daunted he keeps at his 
purpose till he has Consummated his plan. This is per- 
severance. The housewife knows something of what 



540 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

this perseverance means, when she sweeps down the 
spider webs, and finds them again in evidence in a few 
short hours. 

We bespeak for the Order of Royal Templars the per- 
severance of effort that the spider shows. The spider 
looks for the time when, in his completed web, he shall 
enjoy himself like a monarch in his castle. It is his 
home. We are weaving a web of far grander character. 
Ruthless aspersions and false criticisms may sometimes 
for a moment break our faith in the work, but per- 
severance comes to our aid, and we double our effort, 
and, though these reverses or discouragements are re- 
peated, we prove ourselves superior to these temporary 
annoyances, and press on in the work. 

Persistence wins in every line of life. The business 
man proves it. The student proves it. It is demon- 
strated in every phase of life. He who would win eternal 
life is told, " He that endureth to the end shall be saved." 
But w T hy all this effort, why this striving for the mastery, 
why not rest in ease? Because we want to reach the 
goal ; we want the achievement of success in business ; 
we want education ; we want the good and power that 
success in life gives ; yes, we want eternal life. The prize 
is worth the effort. Let us ask, is the prize set before # us 
as Royal Templars worth the effort? Every one answers, 
" Yes." Of the thousands of families who have received 
the payment of a Royal Templar certificate, not one but 
would have said when they received its satisfaction, " It 
was worth all it cost." As we look over the records of 
our Order we find that it is persistence that wins. As 
we look into the future we believe that nothing short of 
persistence w T ill crown our banner with the glory of 
success. 

A multitude of graces and a host of gifts, all in them- 



ROYAL TEMPLARS OF TEMPERANCE 54 1 

selves good, will be as transient as the flash of light from 
the fire-fly, if we have not perseverance. But if the dy- 
namo of persistent effort be at work, the light of success- 
ful life will shine along our path, as the miles of light come 
from the dynamo in the power-house. Foster every grace 
and cultivate every gift, but remember that he who " wins 
out " is he who persists. We have not a word to say 
about hindrances, perverseness and enemies, and annoy- 
ances. They are incidentals. What we covet for the 
membership of our Order is persistence. We may learn 
much from the ant. The wise man said, " Go to the ant, 
thou sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise." The 
ant is one of the smallest of God's creatures, but from 
Solomon's time to the present we learn from this creature 
the lesson of persistence. The beaver shows us what can 
be done by united and persistent effort. There is no suc- 
cess without persistence. We often speak of the survival 
of the fittest, but it is only another way of expressing an 
old truth, that perseverance wins. 

President Roosevelt, speaking of our national suc- 
cess, said : " Normally, the nation that achieves greatness 
can only do so at the cost of anxiety and bewilderment 
and heart-wearing effort. Timid people, people scant of 
faith and hope, and good people who are not accustomed 
to the roughness of a life of effort, are almost sure to be 
disheartened and dismayed by the work and worry, and 
over-much cast down by the shortcomings, actual or 
seeming, which in real life always accompany the first 
stages of even what eventually turn out to be the most 
brilliant victories." This is persistence. 

Remember the fable of the Turtle and the Hare. 

Royal Templar. 



ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS 

Historical. — A Society of Roman Catholic Irishmen organ- 
ized for the encouragement of the country's welfare, the pro- 
motion of Irish nationality, and the propagation of the prin- 
ciples of Friendship, Unity, and True Christian Charity. 

The Order was founded in Ireland in the eighteenth century, 
and attempted to protect its members in the right to worship God 
and after the form of the Roman Catholic Church, to cherish 
Irish traditions and the names of illustrious Irishmen, and to 
care for sick and distressed members and their families. It is 
doubtful, however, whether at first they held regular meetings 
or practiced a formal ritual. 

The order was introduced into the United States in 1836, 
and from that time especially developed its character as a fra- 
ternal and charitable organization. 

Lodges have been established in England as well as Ireland, 
and in different parts of the United States, and at first were 
held accountable to a Board of Erin, selected from representa- 
tives of higher bodies in the United Kingdom and Ireland, by 
whom signs and passwords were selected and sent out to mem- 
bers on both sides of the Atlantic. 

The chief officers of lodges are called Body Masters, and 
above these are the President of the Board of the City and 
County of New York, above whom were the National Delegate 
and Secretary and Treasurer ; while the supreme control was 
vested in the Board of Erin, already named. 

In 1884 the society in the United States was disrupted, a 
portion of the lodges taking the title, Ancient Order of Hiber- 
ians, Board of Erin, while the larger number of lodges reorgan- 
ized as the Ancient Order of Hiberians in America. These 
bodies claimed respectively, in 1897, 40,000 and 125,000 members, 
while there were about 50,000 in the United Kingdom and 
Ireland; in all 215,000 members. In 1898 the two American 
branches were reunited. 

A Woman's Auxiliary to the American Order was organ- 
ized in 1894, known as the Daughters of Erin. They were 
recruited from relatives of members, and in 1897 numbered 
about 20,000. 

During the ten years, 1865-75, the Society suffered from 
connection with the disorders and crimes in the Pennsylvania 
coal mines, which made the name of the " Molly Maguires " 
infamous. The secret brotherhoods of the Hibernians were 
used to forward crime and protect criminals, and it was with 

543 



544 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

the greatest difficulty, and only after long seeming impunity, that 
the guilty were brought to justice. The Molly Maguires were 
at length broken up, and there was no evidence that the Hibern- 
ians generally were guilty with them; but the guilty men were 
all within that Order, and so dominated it in the mining region 
as to make it for a time a machine for the encouragement of 
crime and the protection of criminals. 

After the epidemic of crime was past, the good principles of 
the Order re-asserted themselves and brought it again to a 
foremost place among benevolent fraternities. 



PROGRESS OF THE ORDER 

An Address 

by john t. keating, national president. 

To the Delegates to the Forty-Second Biennial Conven- 
tion of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Greeting : 
Twenty-six months ago in historic Boston you honored 
the National Officers with your confidence and entrusted 
to them the care and management of our good old Order. 
We come to-day to render an account of our stewardship. 
I am much pleased to say that the reports to be sub- 
mitted to your committees will prove that the Order has 
made rapid strides on the road of progress. . . . 

We are to-day the strongest Catholic body organized 
in the United States. We can go further and proudly 
claim we are the strongest body in the world comprised 
of one nationality and belonging to one religion. Our 
career has been marked by a conservatism of action 
which has earned the confidence, not alone of those of 
our faith, but has won the respect of those of all creeds 
and nationalities in the varied population of the Ameri- 
can Republic. 

*Address at the forty-second biennial convention, Denver, Col., 
July 15, 1902. 



ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS 545 

Our labors in the field of benevolence have carried 
peace and happiness to many bereaved homes. Our im- 
partial fidelity to the truths of true fraternity has strength- 
ened the principles of co-operation and self-reliance 
amongst our people. 

Our sincere devotion and careful observance of our 
duties as Catholics have strengthened the bulwarks of 
Mother Church and carried her holy influence far and 
wide on the fields of blessed fruition. 

Our development has kept pace with natural evolution, 
and changes of environment consequent through new 
conditions have been met by the Order with a prompt- 
ness and energy which argues well for the perpetuity 
of our society and the security of its fundamental prin- 
ciples. . . . 

The Boer Fund. — Your splendid generosity and sym- 
pathy with the struggling Boers of South Africa enabled 
the Irishmen of this country to equip and send to the 
Transvaal an ambulance corps, composed of members of 
the Irish societies. When the fortunes of war com- 
pelled the return of the gallant men who went to the 
front, your fund, to the amount of $5000, was flashed 
across the ocean to bring them safe to America. When 
the English government delayed the delivery of the 
money, you sent over $4000 more to secure the return 
of the gallant few. Honor, all honor to you, who thus 
generously proved the genuineness of your sympathy 
with those struggling for liberty. With the surrender 
of DeWet and Delarey, after peace was declared, we 
learned that a few more of those gallant Irish lads were 
awaiting means of transportation. One of them we had 
believed dead. Your officers at once sent $1000 to 
pay their passage and bring, them back to the United 
States. 



54 6 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

p- Foreign Relations. — In compliance with the instruc- 
tions of the Boston Convention, it was my pleasant duty 
to attempt to establish affiliation and reciprocal relations 
with the Hibernians of Australia and Ireland. I am 
pleased to be able to report that on May 7, 1901, my cor- 
respondence With Australia bore good fruit, and the Con- 
vention of the Hibernian Australasian Society, held in 
the City of Melbourne, Australia, on date named, adopted 
the following rule: 

" Any branch of the Society may accept a clearance of 
a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Amer- 
ica, provided he also produces to the branch a medical 
certificate that he is in good health ; and complies with 
the other provisions of the Society's laws." 

The arrangement for a similar understanding with the 
organization in Ireland, England, and Scotland is pro- 
gressing favorably, and chiefly rests on matters subject to 
the consideration of your committee. 

The Gaelic League. — The report of the Committee 
on the Gaelic Language, made to the last Convention, 
contained the recommendation that the sum of $4,200 
be taken from the national treasury and placed at the dis- 
posal of the Gaelic League in America. After consider- 
able debate the report was referred to the incoming 
national officers. 

I respectfully recommend that the delegates here as- 
sembled give favorable consideration to the needs of the 
Gaelic League in Ireland, for whom the money asked two 
years ago was intended. The expense of teaching the 
Gaelic language in the Old Land has been carried on 
under most unfavorable circumstances, and supported 
only by voluntary subscriptions. The only national 
movement worthy of the name in Ireland at the present 
time is that which is carried on under the auspices of the 



ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS 547 

Gaelic League, and the splendid efforts of the true men 
of that association is due to the increase of national spirit 
and the growth of national principles. To the great 
work of reviving the use of the old tongue the Gaelic 
League has linked the encouragement of native industries, 
thus providing means to check the exodus of the popula- 
tion, which has dismayed all true friends of Ireland. 
Such excellent work is deserving of more than passing 
notice or flowery compliment. 

Ladies' Auxiliary. — The rapid growth of the Ladies' 
Auxiliary is a matter of congratulation, not alone to the 
members of that thriving organization, but to the lovers 
of national progress. The wisdom of those far-sighted 
patriots, who, at the Omaha Convention, petitioned for the 
enrollment of the women of our race as auxiliaries to our 
Order, calls for the thankful appreciation of our members. 
The great field awaiting women's efforts is fast being 
peopled with noble souls, whose sacrifice of time and labor 
is reaping rich harvest. The work of the Order is no 
longer limited to the Division meeting and public plat- 
form. In the homes of our people the great principles we 
advocate, the cause we love, is being instilled into the 
hearts of those of tender years, assuring us that those who 
will follow will be imbued with the holy enthusiasm 
needed to inspire the souls of those who may be called on 
in future days to serve in the cause of Faith and Race. 

The enlistment of the interest of the Irishwoman in the 
great work of our society means the easier solution of 
many vexed problems which present themselves. It also 
provides an additional incentive to the members of the 
A. O. H., who are now realizing the fact that the work 
of the Order is not confined to the spheres of benevolent 
or national enterprise, but, in addition thereto, extends out 
into the fields of economic and social development. Our 



548 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

hearty co-operation and earnest sympathy should be given 
unstintedly to the ladies who are striving to awaken in the 
hearts of the mothers, wives, and sisters of our people a 
sense of duty to the great needs of the hour in exercising 
an educational influence in circles where the men of the 
race may have but limited opportunity to exert patriotic 
effort. . . . 

The Study of Irish History. — I had the honor to 
invite your attention two years ago to the desirability of 
introducing the study of Irish history into our schools. I 
am much pleased with the progress made, but believe 
much more is within our power to accomplish. The 
parochial schools, of which we have so much reason to 
be proud, ought to be most approachable fields for this 
movement. The English-speaking parochial schools are 
largely attended by children of Irish parentage, and the 
heads of the families ought to prove their interest in the 
Old Land by securing for their little ones some knowl- 
edge of Ireland and her past. No Catholic nation in old 
or modern days has contributed more to the uplifting of 
humanity than that which won the proud title of " Ire- 
land of Saints and Scholars." 

Conclusion. — Brothers, I have done, my task is fin- 
ished, my labors closed. I leave to others to carry on to 
successful accomplishment the grand destiny of our 
Order. You, the representatives of the good old society, 
gathered here from the sovereign States of the Republic, 
you are the men on whose efforts will depend the future 
of our Order. You are the champions on whose loyalty, 
honesty, and intelligence rest the hopes of the Irish- 
American interested in the welfare of Church and Race. 

For tens of years we labored in the darkness of the 
valley, almost friendless in our toilsome struggle toward 
the light. We have left behind us the mists of doubt 



ANCIENT ORDER OF HIBERNIANS 549 

bigotry, and misunderstanding. We have reached the 
sunlit slopes of prosperity, where all can see, know, and 
value our work. We have earned the approval, won the 
indorsement, and received the commendation of those 
who are competent, by knowledge and position, to esti- 
mate our efforts, and their results for cross and people. 

Your chosen task finds its field on American soil and 
among American people descended from the exile. The 
pleaders bent on novelty will strive to divide the Celt 
born on Irish soil from the Celt born beneath the Stars 
and Stripes. The clever sophists of new doctrines may 
attempt the breaking of the old links by satirical repudi- 
ation of symbols whose tendrils are intertwined with the 
chords of memory through centuries of affection and 
suffering. The teachers of national heresy may try to 
inculcate the belief that un-American ideas find lodgment 
in the hearts of those of our race who have had the privi- 
lege of being born on American soil. Yours is the 
sacred duty to denounce the toleration of such unworthy 
thoughts, and yours the noble privilege of declaring 
before the peoples of this nation your utter abhorrence 
of the idea that the accident of birthplace should cause 
rivalry or engender faction among those descended from 
our race. . . . 

Brothers, here in this great State, enriched by nature 
with fabulous wealth, here on those hills, raised high 
above the impure, disease-laden vapor of the valleys, let 
us raise ourselves to the true conception of the lofty ideal 
the Hibernian should strive to attain. Our labor is not 
for to-day, but rather for the future. Our work is not 
for the gratification of individual ambition, but for the 
satisfying of the aspirations inherent in a race who, 
striving upwards in their travail, encouraged others to 
have confidence in truth and manhood. 



55° THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

As the miner toils to win from the unwilling rock the 
golden reward, and subjects the ore to intricate process 
of purification, so we must toil to bring to the surface the 
better elements of the exiled Gael, casting aside the dross 
with unsparing hand, and preserving for the betterment 
of mankind the nobler attributes of our race. As the 
invalid seeks the pure, rarefied air of those lofty hills, 
and rejoices in renewed health, so we must rise above 
the petty troubles of a lower life, and, walking on higher 
planes, prove ourselves worthy scions of a nation de- 
feated but unconquered, and show ourselves worthy dis- 
ciples of the Faith which alone can bring to man happi- 
ness — to nations peace. Let our society labor to make 
the exile's influence potent in the councils of the Repub- 
lic. Let us encourage American enterprise to look for 
opportunity in Ireland. Let us see if we cannot create 
a market for Irish effort if we must buy foreign manu- 
facture. Let us, by practical endeavor, rather than by 
charity or oratorical sympathy, show we mean what we 
say in Ireland's behalf. Let us educate our children in 
a knowledge of the history of the Old Land. Let us 
inspire them with the lessons to be derived from that 
past. Let us urge all our people to win for us the claim 
that we are the best of all American citizens. 

With the power of Columbia, with the awakened in- 
dustrial ambition of Erin, with the educated sympathy 
of the coming generation, with the strength of our posi- 
tion in American communities, we cannot fail to throw 
aside the barrier which has stood between Ireland and 
prosperity. It needs but the effort, but the effort must 
be made by ourselves. 



I 



PART IV 

VARIOUS ORDERS 
AND FRATERNITIES 



HISTORICAL STATEMENTS 



AMERICAN PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION 

This society was formed at Clinton, Iowa, in 1887. Its object 
was to secure the perpetual separation of church and state; un- 
divided fealty to the Republic; acknowledgment of the right of 
the state to determine the scope of its own jurisdiction; main- 
tenance of a free, non-sectarian system of education; prohibi- 
tion of any government grant or special privilege to any secta- 
rian body whatever ; purification of the ballot ; establishment of a 
franchise with an educational qualification; temporary suspen- 
sion of immigration, its resumption to be based on guarantees of 
extended residence in the country, with an added educational 
qualification; equal taxation of all except public property; pro- 
hibition of convict labor, and the subjection to public inspection 
of all private institutions where persons of either sex are se- 
cluded, with or against their consent. With these principles the 
society declares its intention to keep religion and politics apart; 
not to recognize nor to condemn religion, which is a personal 
matter between the individual and his God, but to demand that 
the individual shall know where his allegiance to the state ends 
and his tribute to God begins. 

The Association was founded by H. F. Bowers, a lawyer in 
Clinton, Iowa, with six others, of whom three were Republicans, 
two Democrats, and a Populist, and one a Prohibitionist; and 
religiously they represented the Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, 
Congregationalist, and Lutheran churches. Mr. Bowers was 
elected the first Supreme President, and held the office till 1893. 

The society gathered into itself at the start the members of 
several minor societies, and has taken an active interest in 
politics, while not identified with either political party. It has 
also spread across the national boundary into Canada and 
Mexico. It had in 1896 probably 2,000,000 members, and would 
have appeared more conspicuously influential but for the prom- 
inence of the question at that time of silver and gold money. 

AMERICAN PROTESTANT ASSOCIATION. 
This society was organized in 1849, and has a membership of 
over 200,000, of whom 75,000 are in Pennsylvania alone. It was 
founded in Pittsburg, Pa., and took part in the Know Nothing 
party campaigns of 1850-56. The society has suffered from 
schism and secession. One branch formed in 1878, claiming the 
parent name, is made up largely of negroes. In 1884 thirteen 
lodges refused to conform to the order of the R. W. Grand 
Lodge that two of the five degrees should thereafter be omitted, 

553 



554 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

and, their charters being recalled, they formed an independent 
society under the name of the Order of American Freemen. The 
Junior American Protestant Association, founded in 1864, de- 
clared its independence of the parent society in 1890, and chose 
the new name of the Loyal Knights of America. 

BROTHERHOOD OF THE UNION 

This society was organized in 1850 by George Lippard, a well 
known writer of fiction, who died in 1854. Its principle was 
antagonism to the union of church and state, maintenance of the 
public school system, and restricted immigration. The order 
calls its three chief officers Washington, Jefferson, and Frank- 
lin. Its total membership is about 25,000, its greatest strength 
being in Pennsylvania. 

B'NAI B'RITH 

The Independent Order of B'nai B'rith (Children of the Cove- 
nant), was founded in New York City in 1843 as a fraternal, 
charitable, and benevolent Jewish organization. 

The emigration of Jews from continental Europe to America 
in the early part of the nineteenth century appealed to the 
thoughtful care of their better educated and more well-to-do 
members; and Henry Jones, a native of Hamburg, Germany, 
conceived the idea of forming a society to foster education and 
encourage the higher pursuits of life. With twelve associates 
he formed the Society of B'nai B'rith, among the founders being 
Dr. Leo Merzbacher, the first preacher of Temple Emanuel, New 
York; Dr. Lilienthal, subsequently of Cincinnati; Baruch Roths- 
child; and Julius Bien, long president of the society. 

In its beginning the government was patriarchal, but at the 
New York Convention in 1869 the sovereignty of the Supreme 
Grand Lodge was transferred to Subordinate Lodges, which should 
send delegates every five years to form Constitution Grand 
Lodges, an executive committee of one representative from each 
Grand Lodge, and a president elected as delegate at large, ex- 
ercise supreme control during the interval, subject to the limita- 
tions of the constitution. 

The order has established a free circulating library in New 
York, a home at Yonkers, N. Y., for the aged and infirm, and 
similar homes and orphan asylums in New Orleans, Atlanta, and 
San Francisco; a technical school in Philadelphia; and a free 
religious school in San Francisco. 

In 1882 petitions were received from Jews residing in Berlin, 
Germany, for a charter for lodges in that country, and twenty- 
nine lodges were established, working under their own Grand 
Lodge. Subsequently the order spread to the Far East, and it is 
said that there are now lodges in Jerusalem, Jaffa, Beiruit, Cario, 
and Alexandria. The Hon. Benjamin F. Peixotto, while Consul- 
General of the United States at Bucharest, established a Rou- 
manian Lodge in that city, from which others have been formed, 



HISTORICAL STATEMENTS 555 

in Roumania. A number of Austrian lodges have been formed, 
which meet in a Grand Lodge in Prague. 

In these old-world cities the order has been the means of 
establishing schools and hospitals. 

A recent financial exhibit of the order shows that since the 
organization in 1843 they have aided needy members to the amount 
of $18,000,000, paid to widows and orphans $30,000,000, and ex- 
pended $50,000,000 for charitable institutions. 

The reported massacre of Jews by Anti-Semitic mobs in the 
town of Kishenef early in 1903 roused great sympathy and 
indignation throughout the civilized world. While it was uncer- 
tain whether anyone could do anything about it, the Order of 
B'nai B'rith drew up a paper of very able and temperate repre- 
sentation addressed to the Government of Russia. This petition 
is addressed to the Emperor of Russia, and was signed by 50,000 
Americans of all creeds. The society placed it in the hands of 
the President of the United States, the Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, 
that such disposition might be made of it as seemed wisest. The 
President intrusted it to the Secretary of State, Hon. John Hay. 
The petition is printed in handsome form with the signatures of 
the persons, bound in a handsome volume, and inclosed with the 
petition in a handsome mahogany case trimmed with silver. It is 
accompanied by a letter from the President, Leo N. Levy, of the 
B'nai B'rith, in which he expresses the gratitude of the society 
for the interest taken in the welfare of the persecuted Jews by the 
President and other prominent Americans. The box bears the 
following inscription: " Petition to the Emperor of Russia, by 
citizens of the United States of America, in relation to massacre 
of Jews in Kishenef, Bessarabia, 1903. Deposited for trans- 
mission by the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith." 

A considerable number of Hebrew Beneficiary Societies have 
followed the example set by the B'nai B'rith. Of these the more 
important may be mentioned briefly. 

The Independent Order of Free Sons of Israel was organized 
in New York in 1849. This Order includes many of the leading 
and progressive citizens of the country, and had in 1898 104 
lodges, with 15,000 members. They had a reserve fund • of 
$725,000 and had paid in relief to members and their families 
nearly $5,000,000. Membership was scattered through twenty- 
one States of the Union. 

The Independent Order of Sons of Benjamin was founded in 
New York in 1877. It had about 18,000 members in 1898, besides 
2500 women in lodges set apart for them, having spread into 
many cities of the United States and Canada. It had expended 
for relief about $2,000,000. 

CATHOLIC KNIGHTS OF AMERICA 

This is a Roman Catholic fraternal beneficiary society, which 
disclaims being a secret society in any sense, nor were its 
founders members of any secret beneficiary order which pre- 



556 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

ceded it. It was organized in 1877 in St. Louis, Mo. Its sub- 
ordinate branches are represented in State Councils, and there is 
a Supreme Council, which meets in St. Louis, though it has been 
proposed to hold it also in other cities. The membership is 
confined to the United States, and it has extended widely through 
the West and South, having grown to a total membership of 
about 25,000, and has paid for sick and death benefits over 
$7,000,000. It has organized a uniformed rank with special tactics 
and drill. 

It is noted for its progressive character, including a good 
number of prominent citizens, and making much of genuine 
patriotism. 

Its convention in 1895 m Omaha, Neb., was addressed, among 
others, by Most Reverend Archbishop Gross, who said : " You 
are to remember it well, Catholic Knights of America, not of 
France, or Germany, or Ireland, or Spain, or Italy. Either you 
are natives of the great republic, or you have given up all 
allegiance to the land of your birth, and have sworn solemn 
allegiance to the Constitution. Be true to your country. Un- 
less you wish the downfall of your society, vote not for a candi- 
date because he is German, or Irish, or French, or belongs to any 
nationality, but vote for him who is as you know, a staunch and 
true upholder of the Constitution of the United States of 
America. If you, my Catholic brothers, are what you should be, 
and I doubt not but you are loyal and true, you will render 
useless the existence of all secret societies, and we have but one 
answer to give all those who speak to us about joining any so- 
ciety, namely, join the Catholic Knights of America, that noble 
band of Catholic Knights. They have all the advantages and in- 
surance of other societies, and have no secrecy, for that which is 
honorable and pure loves not darkness." 

THE AMERICAN LEGION OF HONOR 

This fraternal, social, and beneficiary assessment society was 
founded in Boston, Mass., Dec. 18, 1878, under the lead of Dr. 
Darius Wilson. In its origin it admitted to membership eligible 
white men and women between 18 and 64 years of age; but in 
1885 the latter limit was fixed at # 50 years. Subordinate coun- 
cils have been established throughout the country, and are di- 
rected in matters of local interest by Grand or State Councils, 
which in turn are represented by their Past Supreme Com- 
manders in the Supreme Council. The order attained a mem- 
bership of 62,457 in 1889, but suffered a decline in 1896. It, 
however, maintains its effective working and insures the lives of 
its members for $1000, $2000, or $3000, at their option, and 
carries graduated weekly relief benefits. Since its formation its 
benefits have amounted to more than $30,000,000. The propor- 
tion of women to men among the members is about one to 
seven. The emblem of the order is a maltese cross, somewhat 
resembling the cross of the French Legion of Honor. 



HISTORICAL STATEMENTS 557 

THE IMPROVED ORDER OF HEPTASOPHS. 

This order grew out of the local society of similar name in 
Baltimore, Md., on a call issued Aug. 10, 1878, by Judge George 
V. Metzel and five others, all of Maryland. The Heptasophs of 
Baltimore had affiliation with a college fraternity, which had 
special strength in the South, but the new founders wished to 
form a broader and beneficiary order. At the first annual ses- 
sion, in 1879, nine Conclaves were reported, with a total mem- 
bership of 149. It has been extended in twenty States, but has 
no State or grand bodies, but its local conclaves are represented 
in the Supreme Conclave. It now claims a membership of over 
50,000, and has issued certificates of about $50,000,000, and has 
paid out $2,500,000 in benefits. Death benefits range from $1000 
to $5000, and are met by assessments. 

UNITED ORDER OF PILGRIM FATHERS 

This insurance order was formed in 1878, with a membership 
confined to the New England States. It began in Lawrence, 
Mass., under the lead of J. C. Bowker, and thirteen others, one 
original member being Miss Mary P. Carrier. The first Colony 
was formed Feb. 15, 1879, and was called the Mayflower Colony, 
with 101 members. Its objects were to aid members when in 
need, and assist the widows and orphans of beneficiaries. Mem- 
bership was granted to men and women from 18 to 50 years of 
age, and benefits were provided for of $500, $1000, or $2000. 
There have been formed 193 Colonies, scattered throughout New 
England, with a membership of about 25,000. The principal 
emblem is a representation of the ship " Mayflower " encircled 
by a white enameled band with the initials U. O. P. F. The 
order has paid benefits of $2,500,000. 

ROYAL SOCIETY OF GOOD FELLOWS 

This order was organized and incorporated in Rhode Island 
in 1882. Its leaders had been members of the Masonic Frater- 
nity, Odd Fellows, Ancient Order of United Workmen, Royal 
Arcanum, and Knights of Honor. Their membership is chiefly 
in New England and the Middle States. Their emblem is a . 
crown surmounted by a cross, with a ring oi twelve small tan- 
gent circles containing the letters forming the name, Good Fel- 
lows. The headquarters of the order is in New York City. 
They admit men and women as members, and pay sick and 
death benefits. With about 15,000 members, they paid nearly 
$3,000,000 in benefits in fifteen years. 

THE ROYAL LEAGUE 
This is a mutual assessment beneficiary fraternity, founded 
in Chicago, 111., in 1883, by members of the Royal Arcanum. 
They were incorporated under the laws of Illinois, and have 
spread through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, and the States west of the Mississippi. It receives 



558 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

men from 21 to 46 years of age, and provides a widows' and 
orphans' benefit fund, paying to beneficiaries $2000 or $4000 
upon the death of a member, and $25 or $50 weekly benefit at 
the request of the insured for total disability, deducting such 
payments from the death benefit. Its government is vested in 
a Supreme Council, with Advisory Councils in different States. 
It has paid benefits of about $1,000,000, and has a membership 
of over 15,000. 

NEW ENGLAND ORDER OF PROTECTION 

This society was organized in Boston and incorporated under 
the laws of Massachusetts in 1887, by William H. Martin and 
others. It started in a question of jurisdiction arising in the 
Knights and Ladies of Honor, with the idea of a separate juris- 
diction for New England. It provides death benefits of $3000, 
$2000, and $1000; carries protection of about $40,000,000, and 
has paid benefits amounting to $1,500,000. It follows the plan 
of graded assessments. Subordinate lodges are represented in 
the Grand Lodge by their Past Wardens, and the Supreme 
Lodge is composed of officers, standing committees, all Past 
Supreme Wardens, and original incorporators of the Supreme 
Lodge. The Supreme Lodge meets in Boston annually. The 
membership in 1896 consisted of 6538 men, and 14,513 women, 
a total of 21,051. 

THE HOME CIRCLE 

This order was organized in Boston, Mass., Oct. 2, 1879, and 
chartered under the laws of Massachusetts, Jan. 13, 1880. Its 
founders were Henry Damon and others, members of the Royal 
Arcanum, with the purpose of a social union of that order and 
their wives, sisters, and daughters. They adopted four benefit 
degrees of $500, $1000, $2000, and $3500; and in 1881 the Legis- 
lature authorized them to add a fifth benefit of $5000. Women 
compose about thirty per cent, of the membership. They have 
Subordinate and Grand Councils, and a Supreme Council which 
makes laws and disburses the Benefit Fund. Assessments are 
paid monthly, The members number about 8000, and are found 
in seventeen States and the Provinces of Canada. The society 
has paid $2,000,000 in death benefits, besides $100,000 for relief 
in sickness or disability. 

THE FRATERNAL MYSTIC CIRCLE 

This assessment beneficiary society was formed in Columbus, 
Ohio, Dec. 9, 1884. It has the usual form of government of 
similar fraternities, Subordinate Rulings or Lodges being asso- 
ciated in Grand or State Rulings, and there is a Supreme Ruling, 
a Supreme Executive Committee holding supreme authority in 
the interim between sessions of the Supreme Ruling. The spe- 
cial purposes of the order are: (1) To unite acceptable men, 
from 18 to 49 years of age, in carrying out the idea of fraternity ; 
(2) to. provide that each subordinate lodge shall, from its gen- 



HISTORICAL STATEMENTS 559 

eral fund, pay dues and assessments of sick or disabled members 
maturing during such sickness or disability; (3) pay the amount 
specified in the certificate ($500 to $3000) of membership to the 
beneficiaries at the death of a member; (4) pay to a member 
one-half of the sum named in his certificate of membership in 
case of permanent disability; (5) create an emergency or equali- 
zation fund, to prevent the number of assessments exceeding 
twelve in any year; and (6) collect a General Fund to meet 
the expenses of the Supreme Ruling. The headquarters of the 
order was at Columbus, Ohio, till 1894, when it was moved to 
Philadelphia, Pa., and the Supreme Ruling became incorporated. 
The membership in 1899 was over 12,000. The Emergency Fund 
had reached the amount of $125,000, and about $1,000,000 had 
been paid to beneficiaries on account of disability or death. 

ORDER OF SPARTA 
This society was organized by J. B. Moffite, and others, in 
Philadelphia, in 1879, as a mutual assessment death benefit fra- 
ternity. Its territory reaches out only one hundred miles from 
Philadelphia. It was formed by members of the Ancient Order 
of United Workmen to hold in a compact secret society the 
one-dollar assessment rule of that society. Membership is con- 
fined to men between 21 and 50 years of age, believers in the 
Christian faith. It has a ritual founded on the history of ancient 
Sparta. An invested permanent fund is maintained by which 
assessments are paid to those who have retained their member- 
ship twenty-five years, and relief is given to pay the assessments 
of members disabled by sickness. The benefits paid have 
amounted to more than $1,000,000. The membership is over 
7000. 

NATIONAL PROVIDENT UNION 

This assessment beneficiary and patriotic organization was 
founded in New York in 1883. Its 10,000 members reside for the 
most part in New England and the Middle States, but is spread- 
ing rapidly westward. It is governed by a Congress of 300 
members, patterned after the House of Representatives of the 
United States. It gives death benefits ranging from $1000 to 
$5000. 

KNIGHTS AND LADIES OF SECURITY 

This is a mutual assessment death and disability beneficiary 
secret society, chartered under the' laws of Kansas, at Topeka, 
Feb. 22, 1892. It has no State organization, but its subordinate 
councils are represented directly in the National Council, to 
which representatives are chosen by direct vote. It has no mem- 
bers in cities of over 150,000 population. White persons of good 
character from 18 to 55 years of age may be elected upon a sat- 
isfactory physical examination. Certificates are issued to men 
and women alike for from $500 to $3000, and the assessments 
are graded;- partial payments are made for disability, and the 
full balance at death. A reserve fund of $50 for each $1000 is 



560 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

maintained for the perpetual use of the order to meet death 
losses after twelve assessments have been made within the year. 
The membership amounts to about 25,000 in one-third of the 
States of the Union, and in Canada. 

TRIBE OF BEN-HUR 
This beneficiary fraternity has a ritual based upon the story of 
" Ben-Hur," and was instituted at Crawfordsville, Ind., March 
1, 1894, with the consent of the author and publishers of that 
well known book. Men and women are admitted to member- 
ship upon absolute equality; uniform monthly payments are 
made of $1 for each whole certificate; but the benefit paid is 
graded according to the age of members on joining; no assess- 
ments are made at death of members ; certificates are paid up at 
" expectancy of life " ; a reserve fund is created from the be- 
ginning; and there are two beneficial divisions, northern and 
southern. The reserve funds amount to about $40,000. The 
Supreme Tribe owns a house in Crawfordsville. The member- 
ship is about 15,000. 

FRATERNAL AID ASSOCIATION 
This fraternal, beneficiary order was organized at Lawrence, 
Kansas, Oct. 14, 1890, to insure the lives of acceptable white men 
and women between 18 and 55 years of age. Honorary member- 
ship is granted to certain relatives of beneficiary members. The 
society seeks to promote fraternity, comfort the sick and dis- 
tressed, and care for surviving relatives of deceased members. 
Benefits are paid for sickness, disability, and death, the latter 
from $1000 to $3000. Assessments are called when needed to 
meet a claim, of which notice of thirty days is given. The order 
is governed by local, State, and General Councils, and declines 
to recruit members in the Atlantic Coast and Gulf States from 
Virginia to Texas ; in Cook County, 111., in Illinois south of 
Centralia, and in cities of more than 200,000 inhabitants. There 
are about 3000 members, and about $ioo;ooo has been paid in 
benefits. 

NATIONAL PROTECTIVE LEGION 

This fraternal beneficiary society was organized by members 
of the Masonic Order in New York in 1891. It aimed to unite 
all acceptable men and women in one association for purposes of 
benevolence, social culture, the care of the sick and needy, and 
to provide a fund for the benefit of members while living and 
the relief of their families in case of death. Local societies are 
called Legions, which are affiliated in State Legions, and these in 
a National Legion. By a semi-endowment plan part of the death 
benefit certificates are paid during the life time of the holders, 
there is a cash surrender value after five years, and members 
may borrow from the benefit fund within certain restrictions. 
The total membership is about 4000. The headquarters of the 
order is at Waverly, N. Y. 



HISTORICAL STATEMENTS 561 

KNIGHTS AND LADIES OF THE GOLDEN STAR 

This assessment charitable and beneficiary fraternity began 
as a local organization, in Newark, N. J., Jan. 11, 1884; but later 
established other lodges in New Jersey and New York, and has 
grown to a membership of over 10,000. Men and women be- 
tween 16 and 65 years of age are received as members, and re- 
ceive beneficiary certificates of $500, $1000, $1500, or $2000, 
payable at death, or convertible into paid-up insurance after ten 
years. Annuities are paid to those fifty years of age who 
have been members for twenty-one years, and one-half the face 
value of certificates is paid at total disability. Children also are 
eligible to membership, the society receiving entire families, of 
which the children are received into the immediate relief depart- 
ment in sums ranging from $50 to $400. The original members 
had been members of the Royal Templars of Temperance, and 
while the order is not exactly a temperance society, it denies 
membership to saloon keepers and bartenders. Its " golden 
star " refers to the Star of Bethlehem. It has paid benefits to 
the amount of $700,000. 

ROYAL NEIGHBORS OF AMERICA 

This is the title of the auxiliary branch of the Modern "Wood- 
men, to which its members and their women relatives are eligible. 
It ably supplements the Camps of Woodmen. Its members are of 
two classes, beneficiary and fraternal, about 13,000 belonging to 
the latter class and 3000 to the former. 

SHIELD OF HONOR 
This is a beneficiary assessment fraternity, formed by John W. 
Meeks and others in Baltimore, Md., in 1877. The emblem on 
the seal of the society represents swords and bow and arrow on 
an open Bible, with the hour-glass, and suggests an incident in 
the life of a prominent character in the Old Testament, and 
upon this the ritual is based. The membership numbers about 
15,000, mostly in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Its affairs are 
controlled by subordinate lodges and a Supreme Lodge. It 
has paid benefits of about $700,000. 

UNITED ORDER OF THE GOLDEN CROSS 
This is a mutual assessment beneficiary society founded on the 
principle of total abstinence from alcoholic beverages. It was 
established by Dr. J. H. Morgan, in New England in 1876, where 
its strength still lies, though it has spread into New York, 
Tennessee, _ Kentucky, Indiana, and the District of Columbia. 
Grand bodies have jurisdiction over subordinate commanderies, 
and a Supreme Commandery is over all. It cares for members, 
male and female, in sickness and distress, and pays death bene- 
fits of $500, $1000, or $2000. Its paid benefits amount to over 
$4,000,000. Its membership numbers over 30,000. Its head- 
quarters is at Lewiston, Me. 



562 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

PATRIOTIC ORDER SONS OF AMERICA 

This beneficiary secret society was founded at Philadelphia, 
Pa., as early as 1847, under the name of the United Sons of 
America, with the native American political sentiment of the 
United Order of American Mechanics, formed two years 
earlier. An auxiliary known as the Junior Sons of America 
was formed Dec. 10, 1847, admitting young men of from 16 to 21 
years. The parent society became fused with others in the polit- 
ical movements of 1852, but in 1868 it was revived by some 
Camps of Junior Sons of America, which in turn was merged 
into the Senior Society. Since then it has grown to a member- 
ship of over 100,000, of whom about 60,000 are in Pennsylvania. 
It pays sick and death benefits by assessments, and its members 
under fifty years of age have an optional insurance of $1000, and 
it has paid in benefits since 1866 more than $1,000,000. 

KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN EAGLE 

A beneficiary semi-military secret society, founded in Balti- 
more, Md., in 1872, by John E. Burbage. The objects of the 
order are benevolence, mutual relief against the trials and 
difficulties attending sickness, distress, and death, so far as they 
may be mitigated by pecuniary assistance and brotherly sympathy ; 
to care for and protect widows and orphans ; to assist 
those out of employment, to encourage each other in 
business ; to stimulate moral and mental culture by wholesome 
precepts, fraternal counsel, and social intercourse; to elevate the 
membership to a higher and nobler life, and the inculcation and 
dissemination of the principles of benevolence and charity. The 
order has for its motto, " Fidelity, Valor, and Honor," a trinity 
of graces taught in its ritual. The ritual has for its theme the 
struggles of the Christian warrior after " the immortal crown," 
and its symbols and allegory represents the passing through the 
wilderness of sin and woe on the journey to "the Heavenly 
Castle." The ritualistic work has three degrees ; the first, or 
Pilgrim's ; second, or Knight's ; and third, or Crusader's degree ; 
and symbolize a soldier battling for his faith, armed and 
equipped, and going forth with veneration for religion, fidelity, 
valor, courtesy, charity, and hospitality, upon a crusade against 
the hosts of evil. 

The local organization is called a " Castle," and its presiding 
officer a " Chief." In the rapid growth of the order the " Grand 
Castle of Maryland " was organized in Baltimore early in 1873, 
and the Grand Castle of Pennsylvania in 1876, and the Grand 
Castle of Massachusetts in 1877, and in 1878 a national body 
called the " Supreme Castle " was formed in 1878 at Baltimore. 
In 1896 it was in successful operation in thirty-four States with 
830 Castles. 

Any Sir Knight in good standing in his Castle is eligible to 
membership in a " Commandery," a uniformed rank, which is 



HISTORICAL STATEMENTS 5^3 

not obligatory, but is especially attractive to young men. The 
Commanderies confer the degree of Chivalry, which was adopted 
by the Supreme Castle at its annual session in Reading, Pa., in 
1896. The motto of this degree is " Chivalry, Truth and Peace/' 
and the ritual is based upon the history, of the Crusaders. The 
Commanderies are under the control of a lieutenant-general 
elected by the Supreme Castle every three years, except that 
where there are five or more Commanderies in a single State 
these may be grouped into a Grand Commandery, the members 
of which are known as Grand Chevaliers. 

Subordinate Commanderies may be beneficial or non-beneficial, 
as they choose. The order claims to be a pioneer in protecting 
those who have passed the ordinary limit of age for entering 
such organizations. There is a large number of " Veteran 
Castles/' composed of men of fifty years and over. They also 
claim to be the pioneer in protecting those who have belonged 
to Castles which have become defunct, such members being per- 
mitted to pay dues to and receive benefits friom the Grand or 
Supreme Castle. 

When the Knights of Labor moved their headquarters from 
Philadelphia to Washington, the Knights of the Golden Eagle 
purchased their building for a Grand Castle Hall for $45,000. 

The Death Benefit Fund is composed of members in good 
standing of subordinate Castles, between the ages of eighteen and 
fifty. Beneficiaries are divided into two classes, who receive 
$1000 and $500, respectively, upon assessments of 50 and 25 
cents ; and to them was added in 1896 a third class with a 
benefit of $250. Besides these death benefits, weekly sick benefits 
and funeral benefits are paid by Subordinate Castles, at their 
option, by means of special assessments. 

There is an Auxiliary or Ladies' Order, whose members be- 
tween the ages of sixteen and fifty, meet in Subordinate " Tem- 
ples." The Temple degree is open to relatives of Knights and 
other women of good character, and besides its charitable use is 
a promoter of the social life of the order. 

During 1895 the Castles paid out $180,000 for relief, and their 
investments amounted to $850,000. The order has a membership 
of about 60,000, and the membership of the Temples is about 9000. 

The Eagle Home Association of Pennsylvania is maintained 
for the protection of aged members and their relatives, and has 
a per capita tax from such Castles as are enrolled in member- 
ship. 

THE ORDER OF CHOSEN FRIENDS 
This order was established at Indianapolis, Ind., May 28, 1879, 
by Albert Alcon and others, as a fraternal, benevolent, and pro- 
tective society. Besides sick and death benefits, it makes pro- 
vision for payment of benefits to aged members and to those 
totally disabled by disease or accident. It seeks to unite fra- 
ternally acceptable white persons of good character, steady 
habits, sound bodily health, and reputable calling, who believe 



564 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

in a Supreme Being; to improve their condition, morally, so- 
cially, and materially, by timely counsel and instructive counsels, 
and instructive lessons, encouragement in business, and assist- 
ance to obtain employment when in need; to establish a relief 
fund from which a sum not exceeding $3000 shall be paid, first, 
when disabled by old age; second, when permanently disabled 
by disease; and third, upon death. Certificates are issued for 
$500, $1000, $2000, or $3000, upon approved medical examination. 

Beneficiary members pay into the relief fund at death of mem- 
bers sums graded according to age ; but by a plan of equalization 
the member who passes his seventy-fifth birthday pays no more 
for his thousand dollars benefit than the member who dies within 
a short time after acquiring membership. 

Women are admitted to the order on the same terms as men. 

The ritual was written by one of the founders, Mr. T. B. 
Sims, and revised and completed by the Rev. T. G. Beharrell, 
D.D. The " chain of seven links " was selected as the leading 
emblem. 

The order was questioned by the Superintendent of Insurance 
of New York on account of its old age disability feature; but, 
after a prolonged struggle it was sustained by the courts. De- 
spite the losses caused by these difficulties, the order had in 
1895 a membership of 38,095, and had paid in death benefits about 
$9,000,000 ; to disabled members over $500,000 ; and to mem- 
bers disabled by old age $32,000. 

The trouble in New York led to the formation of the Order of 
United Friends in 1881 ; and the members in California, demand- 
ing a separate jurisdiction in 1882, seceded and formed the In- 
dependent Order of Chosen Friends, which collapsed after having 
secured 8000 members. Other separations and rivalries hindered 
its progress, but in 1897 the order had spread prosperously in 
thirty-one States and Territories and in Canada. 



CATHOLIC MUTUAL BENEFIT ASSOCIATION 

This society was organized at Niagara Falls, N. Y., in July, 
1876, as a fraternal beneficiary society, to which only men, prac- 
tical Catholics, between the ages of eighteen and fifty years are 
eligible. 

It issues certificates, payable at the death of members, for 
$500, $1000, and $2000, which are payable by means of assess- 
ments graded by the age of the member when joining. 

The order grew out of a suggestion by the late Rt. Rev. S. V. 
Ryan, Bishop of Buffalo, who wished to secure the benefits of 
such mutual association for Catholics apart from those secret 
societies which the Church condemned. 

This order has its headquarters in Brooklyn, N. Y., and has a 
membership of over 45,000, It has disbursed in sick and death 
benefits over $6,000,000. 



HISTORICAL STATEMENTS 565 

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS 

A Catholic fraternal society, organized in New Haven, Conn., 
March 29, 1882, to promote social and intellectual intercourse 
among its members, and to render pecuniary aid to them and 
their beneficiaries. Catholic men, between eighteen and forty- 
five years of age, are eligible to membership. The order spread 
through Connecticut and Rhode Island, and into Massachusetts 
in 1892. It has also extended west and south. 

It pays death benefits of from $1000 to $3000, and sick benefits 
at the option of local Councils. There is a social side beyond 
that of insurance, open to those ineligible to insurance, or who 
do not care for that feature. 

There are about 35,000 members throughout the United States. 

ST. PATRICK'S ALLIANCE OF AMERICA 

This society was organized in 1868. It pays sick and death 
benefits, and a funeral service benefit at the death of a member's 
wife. It has paid altogether in benefits about $1,750,000. Its 
ritual is based upon the right of every man to worship God ac- 
cording to the dictates of his own conscience. Its work is chiefly 
in New England, the Middle, and Pacific Coast States. There is 
no religious or political test, membership embracing men of 
different parties and different churches ; but all must be Irish or 
of Irish descent. They have about 50,000 members. 

GERMAN ORDER OF HARUGARI 

A society of Germans organized in New York in 1847, in op- 
position to the prevalent Native American sentiment, and con- 
templating not only the protection of members in sickness and 
distress, but also the preservation of the German language, liter- 
ature, customs, and traditions. It celebrated its fiftieth anniver- 
sary at Newark, N. J., July 12, 1897, three of its founders still 
surviving. 

Its name, Harugari, ii> from the ancient German trib known 
to the Latins as the Cherusci, which was conquered by the 
Romans under Tiberius, but achieved independence under Ar- 
minius, who led them to victory over the Roman General Varus. 
Haruc, in old German, signified a forest, and the Teutonic for- 
esters were called Harugaries. The first lodge of the modern 
order was called, after their ancient leader, Arminia, No. I. 

The order adopted the motto, "Friendship, Love, and Hu- 
manity," and declared its principles as the brotherhood of man 
and work for the common welfare. It has spread into twenty- 
seven States, and has about 300 lodges with 30,000 members. 
Women members meet in separate lodges, and number about 7000. 
_ The order has paid out more than $5,000,000 for the relief of 
sick and distressed members, and their widows and orphans. 

One of their outgrowths has been the Harugari Singing So- 
ciety, to which 20,000 members belong. 



566 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

GRAND UNITED ORDER OF GALILEAN FISHERMEN 

A secret beneficiary society of negro men and women, 
founded in Washington, D. C, in 1856. It has survived the dis- 
orders of the civil war, and owns lands, halls, and personal prop- 
erty aggregating about $125,000, and has about 60,000 members 
scattered through the country from New England to the Gulf. 

It pays from three to five dollars a week in sick benefits, and 
death benefits of from $300 to $400. 

ORDER OF SONS OF ST. GEORGE 

A fraternal society of Englishmen, their sons and grandsons, 
instituted at Scranton, Pa., in 187 1, and said to have originated 
in organized resistance of the outrages of the " Molly Maguires " 
in Pennsylvania in 1870. 

There had been some organization shortly after the civil war, 
and after the formal institution in 187 1 it spread through the 
United States and Canada and the Hawaiian Islands, growing to 
a membership of about 35,000. 

It has a system of sick benefits varying according to the loca- 
tion of the lodge or inclination -of members, from $1 to $5 a 
week. Some lodges also provide a physician and medicine. 

On the death of a member a funeral benefit is paid to his 
widow or heirs of from $30 to $400. The annual dues of members 
are $6. On the death of a member's wife payment is generally 
made of one-half the amount paid for a member. There is a 
benevolent fund maintained by the lodge, for the help of any 
worthy Englishman. 

While its disbursements are to so great an extent voluntary 
and varied, the order has paid since 187 1 benefits amounting to 
$500,000. 

SONS OF HERMANN (DER ORDEN DER HERMANN'S 
SOEHNE) 

A German society founded in New York in 1840, probably in 
reaction against the " Native- American " movement of that time. 

The National Grand Lodge meets every four years, holding its 
first regular session in Rochester, N. Y., in 1857. It has a mem- 
bership of nearly 100,000, with Grand Lodges in California, Con- 
necticut, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, 
Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsyl- 
vania, Texas, and Washington, and subordinate lodges in con- 
siderable numbers in other States. Women have auxiliary lodges. 

LOYAL ORANGE INSTITUTION 

This society, closely connected with the history of Ireland, was 
established in that Island, at Armagh, in 1795, one hundred and 
live years after the victory of King William III. at the Battle of 



HISTORICAL STATEMENTS 5^7 

the Boyne. William as Prince of Orange had been the conspicu- 
ous leader of Protestantism in Europe, and on the defeat of the 
Stuart cause the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 
was recognized as unalterably Protestant. To support and de- 
fend the Protestant cause in Ireland the Loyal Orange Institution 
was established. 

With the emigration of Irishmen to Canada and the United 
States the warfare between them was carried into new lands, 
and the Loyal Orange Institution was established in Canada in 
1829, and an Orange Lodge was instituted in the United States 
in 1867, and a Grand Lodge in 1870. A parade of Orangemen in 
celebration of the victory of the Boyne was made in New York 
July 12, 1871, and was attacked by Irish Roman Catholics, and 
the riot was only suppressed by the military, and after the loss 
of sixty lives. Since then there have been fewer parades, but 
the order has co-operated with other Protestant societies, espe- 
cially, in 1895, with the American Protective Association, the 
Junior Order of United American Mechanics, and other bodies, 
in a general convention in Washington, D. C, which adopted a 
platform and gave notice to the members of Congress and other 
leaders that restricted immigration and legislation against al- 
leged tendencies of the Roman Catholic Church were regarded 
by the thousands of Americans in these organizations as essential 
to the welfare of the United States. 

Orange Lodges sometimes pay sick and death benefits, but do 
not make this feature conspicuous. 

They have auxiliary societies composed of women relatives of 
members. These auxiliaries were formed in the United States 
in 1876, and are entitled the Ladies' Loyal Orange Institution, 
and have about 15,000 members. 

The total membership of the Orange Lodges throughout the 
world is reckoned at about 1,500,000. One-third as many are 
credited to North America, of whom 75,000 are in the United 
States. 



ORDER OF UNITED AMERICAN MECHANICS 

This is a patriotic, social, fraternal, and benevolent secret as- 
sociation of white male native citizens, founded at Philadelphia, 
Pa., July 8, 1845. Members must be native born Americans, and 
the society stands for the public school with the American flag 
over it, and against any union of church and state. 

Originally made up exclusively of operative mechanics, it has 
extended among men of all professions and callings. Its councils 
are in twenty-one States of the Union, with over 60,000 members. 

The society took active part in the political Native Americanism 
of its early days. 

A Junior Order of United American Mechanics was organized 



568 THOUGHTS FOR THE OCCASION 

in 1853 as a feeder of the parent society, but became independent 
in 1885. 

A men and women's auxiliary, known as the Daughters of 
Liberty, originated in 1875, and its example led to many other 
auxiliary councils, with about 30,000 members at present. 
* The parent order has a funeral benefit department, which pays 
by means of assessments $300 at the death of those entitled to 
the same. There is also an insurance department, which pays 
$1000 to legal representatives of deceased members, the fund 
being maintained by assessments of those enrolled in it. 

There is also a uniformed division, entitled the Loyal Legion 
of United American Mechanics, which was established by the 
National Council in 1886. It has an elaborate drill and sword- 
manual, and an organization and ritual of its own. 

JUNIOR ORDER, UNITED AMERICAN MECHANICS 

This society was established in Philadelphia in 1853, a junior 
branch of the Order of United American Mechanics ; but in 1885 
it became an independent secret, native American, patriotic, 
beneficiary organization. It resembles the parent order from 
which it sprung, but is no longer a feeder to it. 

It declares its objects: To maintain and promote the interest 
of Americans, and shield them from the depressing effects of 
foreign competition; to assist Americans in obtaining employ- 
ment ; to encourage Americans in business ; to establish a sick 
and funeral fund; to maintain the public school system of the 
United States of America; to prevent sectarian interference 
therewith, and uphold the reading of the Bible therein. Im- 
migration must be restricted; protection to Americans, Ameri- 
can institutions, and promulgation of American principles ; a flag 
on every public school in the land, the Holy Bible within; and 
love of country instilled into the heart of every child; principle 
paramount to partisan affiliation; and one country, right or 
wrong; to help it right when wrong; to help it on when right. 
We are a political organization inasmuch as we teach patriotism, 
loveof country, and devotion to our country's flag. We are non- 
partisan, as we educate all to think for themselves, that the ex- 
ercise of the right of franchise will be an unbiased result of un- 
divided conviction and preferences. 

The order gives sick and funeral benefits as subordinate coun- 
cils may determine. It has more than 160,000 members in almost 
all the States. It is in general s}^mpathy with the American 
Protective Association, but differs from it in admitting to its 
ranks no others than native Americans. 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Address, Acceptance (Knights of Pythias) ; H. Douglass. 137 

Address, Ancient Druidic History; T. W. Malcom 215 

Address, Anniversary, A Masonic Retrospect ; C. A. Tonsor 64 

Address, Anniversary (Royal Arcanum) ; J. A. Langfitt. . 350 

Address, Annual, I. O. O. F. ; A. S. Pinkerton 94 

Address, Annual, Sov'n Gr'd Lodge, I.O.O.F. ; A. C. Cable. 97 

Address, Annual (Sons of Temperance) ; E. H. Clapp 500 

Address, Biennial (Knights of Pythias) ; J. V. Valkenburg 133 

-Address (Brotherhood Railway Employees) ; Mrs. Mulkey 444 

. Address (Brotherhood R'y Employees) ; B. K. Wagner. . . 450 

Address (Brotherhood R'y Employees) ; John T. Wilson. 438 

^Address, Centennial (Druids); H. A. M'Gindley 205 

Address, Conclusion (Sons of Temperance) ; R. A. Temple. 506 

Address, Dedication (Elks) ; Hon. A. J. Montague 156 

Address, Era of Fraternalism (Royal Arc'um) ; W. A. Rice 361 

Address, Example of Washington; Chauncey M. Depew. 302 

Address, First Grand Master of Virginia; G. P. Brown.. 59 

Address, Fraternal Greetings (U'd Work'n) ; C. G. Hinds 318 

Address, The Fraternal System ; J. A. Langfitt 388 

Address, Fraternity the Latest Moral Force; W. Thayer. . 172 

Address, Fraternity (Royal Arcanum) ; Hon. J. A. Lee 354 

Address, Future of Fraternalism; G. D. Eldridge 362 

Address, Greeting (Sons Temperance) ; Gov. Oliver Ames. 493 

Address, Inaugural (Sons of Temperance) ; R. A. Temple. 505 

Address, Inherent Strength of Fraternalism ; E. N. Haag. 26 

Address, Installation, Masonry and State; Jesse S. Jones. 57 

Address, Installation (Royal Arcanum); J. S. Capen 394 

Address, Installation (Sons of Temperance) ; E. H. Clapp. 485 

Address, Law of Protection (Arcanum) ; Rev. R. E. Farrier 384 

I Address, Memorial (Foresters); Gen. George B. Loud.. 277 

Address, Memorial (Royal Arcanum) 415 

Addresses, National Fraternal Congress 161 

Address, Presentation; Fraternal Press Association 17 

Address, Presentation ; Past Supreme M. Workman Wilson 327 

Address, Progress of Order (Hibernian) ; J. T. Keating. . 554 

Address of Response (Mystic Workers) ; S. M. Howe. .. . 465 

Address, Response (Temperance); B. R. Jewell, Esq.... 488 

Address, Responsive; President Theodore Roosevelt 18 

Address, Responsive (Temperance) ; Rev. R. A. Temple. . 486 

569 



570 INDEX 

PAGE 

Address, Retiring, Officers (Temperance) ; Eug. H. Clapp 504 

Address, Royal Arcanum, Royal Law; Rev. A. S. Burrows 382 
Address, Semi-Centennial, Fifty Years of Washington 

Masonry ; Thomas Milburne Reed 66 

Address, Tamina's Day ; Andrew H. Paton 306 

Address, Tamina Traditions; Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell.... 311 
Address, Temperance in New Zealand; John Harding.... 527 
Address, The Renaissance of Masonry; Roscoe Pound.... 41 
Address, The toast, "Our Guest"; Dr. W. F. Montague.. 265 
Address, Those who gave us Fraternity; W. L. Morgan. 181 
Address, To a New Council (Royal Templars) ; Chas. Mills 536 
Address, Virtue, Mercy, and Charity, the Foundation Prin- 
ciples ; Wm. C. Olmstead 2>77 

Address, Washington ; F. H. Rice, New York 298 

Address of Welcome (Mystic Workers) ; George N. Holt. 463 

Address, Welcome (Royal Arcanum) ; Hon. Fitzhugh Hall 398 

Address of Welcome (Temperance) ; F. M. Bradley 481 

Address of Welcome (Sons of Temperance) ; J. S. Littell. 486 

Address of Welcome (Workmen) ; Hon. Sam'l Iverson. . Z 2 2> 

Address of Welcome (Workmen) ; Hon. Robert A. Smith. 323 

Aid Association, Fraternal Historical 560 

A Knod< at the Door of Christ's Church, Temperance 

Sermon ; Rev. Theo. L. Cuyler, D.D 474 

Alliance of America, St. Patrick's Historical 565 

American Legion of Honor Historical 556 

American Protective Association Historical 553 

American Rite, Masonry Historical 36 

Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite 36 

Ancient Druidic History, Address; T. W. Malcolm 215 

Ancient Order of Foresters .Historical 251 

Ancient Order of Hibernians Historical 543 

Ancient Order of United Workmen Historical 317 

Anniversary Address, A Masonic Retrospect; C. A. Tonsor 64 

Anniversary, The Centennial (Druids) 231 

Anniversary Sermon, Masonry; Rev. A. E. Barnett 70 

Annual Church Service, Sermon; Archdeacon E. Davis.. 272 

Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Historical 155 

Ben-Hur, Tribe of Historical 560 

Biennial Address (Knights of Pythias) ; J. V. Valkenburg. 133 

B'nai B'rith, Independent Hebrew Order Historical 554 

Brotherhood and Royal Arcanum; Rev. M. Bronk 381 

Brotherhood of Railway Employees Historical 437 

Brotherhood of Man ; " Buckeye Workman " 192 

Brotherhood of the Union Historical 554 

Burial Service and Ritual (United Workmen) 328 

Cadets of Temperance Historical 509 

Canadian Order of Foresters Historical 271 

Catholic Mutual Benefit Association Historical 564 



INDEX 57 1 

PAGE 

Catholic Order of America Historical 555 

Centennial Address (Druids) ; H. A. M'Gindley 205 

Centennial Anniversary (Druids) 231 

Centennial Oration; Most Noble Gr'd Arch, W. A. Schmitt 200 

Certificate Conditions ; Hon. D. D. Aitken 422 

Charity, the Keynote of Fraternalism 193 

Chosen Friends, Order of Historical 563 

Chronological History ; Knights of Malta 150 

Church and Fraternity; Rev. George F. Kenngott 37? 

Civil War Incident ; " Pacific Mason " 86 

Closing Ode (Royal Arcanum); Chas. Russell Taylor 414 

Columbus, Knights of Historical 565 

Danger of Fraternal Apathy; Deputy S. Regent E. E. Dow 373 

Decoration, Graves of Arcanians, Address; H. R. Harris. 415 

Dedication Address (Elks); Hon. A. J. Montague 150 

Don't Forget who gave Fraternity, Address ; W. L. Morgan 181 

Druidism, An Address ; Mayor W. R. Vaughn 237 

Druids, United Ancient Order of Historical 199 

Eastern Star, Order of Historical 38 

Educating Temperance Opinion; James H. Rapen 5 21 

Elks, Benevolent and Protective Order of Historical 155 

Era of Fraternalism, Address; Walter Allen Rice 361 

Eulogy, Knights of Pythias; Chancellor Van Valkenburg. 142 

Example of Washington, Address; Hon. C. M. Depew.. 302 

Fellowship, A Sermon (Royal Arcanum) ; N. E. Yeiser. . 400 
Fifty Years of Washington Masonry, Semi-Centennial 

Address ; Thomas Milburne Reed 66 

Foresters of America Historical 252 

Foresters in Australia, Addresc ; Dr. Oronhytekha and 

Dr. W. F. Montague 261 

Forester's Island 256 

Fraternal Aid Association Historical 560 

Fraternal Apathy, Danger of ; E. E. Dow 373 

Fraternal Greetings, Address (United Workmen) ; C. G. 

Hinds 318 

Fraternal Insurance ; L. S. 3VL in the " Pathfinder " 189 

Fraternalism; President C. W. Eliot 20 

Fraternalism ; " National Fraternal Press " 22 

Fraternalism ; " Our Goat " 191 

Fraternalism, Inherent Strength of; E. N. Haag 26 

Fraternal Life Insurance, Sermon; M, A. Matthews, D.D. 177 

Fraternal Loyalty ; " Pythian Knight " 145 

Fraternal Mystic Circle Historical 558 

Fraternal Societies, Origin and History; B. J. Kline 185 

Fraternal Spirit ; " Exchange " 367 

Fraternal System, Address ; Joseph A. Langfitt 388 

Fraternity ; E. N. Haag 17 



57 2 INDEX 

PAGE 

Fraternity ; " The Mystic Mirror " 197 

Fraternity ; " Odd Fellows Review " 127 

Fraternity, Address (Royal Arcanum) ; Hon. J. A. Lee... 354 

Fraternity and Business ; " Modernograph " 370 

Fraternity and Christianity ; " Exchange " 187 

Fraternity, Growth of ; " Fresno Democrat " 23 

Fraternity, The Latest Moral Force, Address; W. Thayer. 172 

Fraternity and Permanency ; J. T. Rogers 195 

Fraternity, What is ; " Protector " 21 

Freemasonry Historical 33 

Freemasonry, A Statement ; Benjamin Franklin 85 

Friendship, Love, Truth ; Selected 125 

Funeral Ode; Representative Cole of Michigan 315 

Funeral Ode (United Workmen) 330 

Future of Fraternalism, An Address; G. D. Eldridge 362 

Galilean Fisherman, Grand United Order of. .. .Historical 566 

Garfield, James A.; Sons of Temperance Tribute 497 

German Order of Harugari Historical 565 

Golden Cross, United Order of the Historical 561 

Golden Eagle, Knights of Historical 562 

Golden Star, Knights and Ladies of Historical 561 

Good Fellows, Royal Society Historical 557 

Good Templars, Independent Order of Historical 519 

Gough, John B. ; An Obituary Reference 498 

Growth and Condition of I. O. O. F., Annual Address... 94 

Growth of Fraternity; Hon. Chas. H. Avery 357 

Growth of Fraternity; Sextus, in " K. of H. Reporter" 344 

Harugari, German Order of Historical 565 

Hebrew Order, Independent, B'nai B'rith Historical 554 

Heptasophs, Improved Order of Historical 557 

Historical Statements of Each Order see 33-568 

History and Origin of Fraternal Societies; B. J. Kline. .. . 185 

Home Circle Historical 558 

Honored Dead (United Workmen) 333 

Improved Order of Red Men Historical 285 

Inaugural Address (Sons of Temperance) ; R. A. Temple. 505 

Independent Order of Foresters. .- 253 

Installation Address, Masonry and the State; J. S. Jones. 57 

Installation Address (Royal Arcanum); J. S. Capen 394 

Installation Address (Sons of Temperance) ; E. H. Clapp. 485 

Installation Night, Poem ; Delos Everett 408 

Installation, Retiring Officers, Address; Eugene H. Clapp. 504 

Instituting a New Council, Address; Chas. Mills 536 

Intelligent Co-operation 459 

International Brotherhood of Maintenance-of-Way Em- 
ployees Historical 437 

Invocations 467 

Irish Masonry 87 



INDEX 573 

PAGE 

Junior Order United American Mechanics Historical 568 

Knights of Columbus Historical 565 

Knights of the Golden Eagle Historical 562 

Knights of Honor Historical 339 

Knights and Ladies of the Golden Star Historical 561 

Knights and Ladies of Honor Historical 341 

Knights and Ladies of Security Historical 559 

Knights of Malta Historical 147 

Knights of Pythias Eulogy; Chancellor Van Valkenburg. 142 

Knights of Pythias Historical 131 

Knights Templars Historical 36 

Ladies of the Maccabees of the World Historical 421 

Law of Protection, Address; Rev. George E. Farrier.... 384 

Legion of Honor, American Historical 556 

Lessons from our History (Royal Templars) 533 

Life Insurance, Christian Duty; " Presb't'n Messenger".. 347 

Loyal Crusaders (Temperance) 5 X 5 

Loyal Orange Institution Historical 566 

Maccabees Historical 419 

Man's Duty to Family, Sermon; M. A. Matthews, D.D 430 

Masonic Address, First Grd Master Virginia; G.P. Brown 59 

Masonic Eulogy, Washington; Pres. Wm. McKinley.... 80 

Masonic Retrospect, Anniversary Address; C. A. Tonsor. . 64 

Masonic Sermon, Anniversary; Rev. A. E. Barnett 70 

Masonry, American Rite 36 

Masonry, Higher Degrees of 35 

Masonry Historical 33 

Masonry and Odd Fellowship; John H. White 126, 

Masonry, Order of the Eastern Star 38 

Masonry, Renaissance of, An Address; Roscoe Pound.... 41 

Masonry, Requirements of; " Masonic Standard " 62 

Masonry and the State, Installation Address; J. S. Jones. 57 

Members that Read ; " Odd Fellows Register " 128 

Memorial Address (Foresters) ; Gen. George B. Loud. . 277 

Memorial Address (Royal Arcanum) ; Harvey B. Harris. 415 

Memorial Tributes ; by Geo. Rusling and others 495 

Modern Spirit of Brotherhood, Royal Arcanum, Sermon. 381 

Modern Workmen of America Historical 435 

Mutual Benefit Association, Catholic Historical 564 

Mystic Circle, Fraternal Historical 558 

Mystic Workers of the World Historical 463 

National Fraternal Congress ; Addresses 161 

National Protective Legion Historical 560 

National Provident Union Historical 559 

National Union . ,,,,.,,, » ,,,,..,*,,,,», ..Historical 429 



574 INDEX 

PAGE 

Negro Freemasonry Historical 39 

New England Order of Protection Historical 558 

Odd Fellows ; Higher Degrees of 90 

Odd Fellows Historical 89 

Odd Fellows, Other Bodies of 92 

Odd Fellowship Exemplified in Jesus, Sermon ; Rev. 

F, J. Prettyman 124 

Odd Fellowship and Masonry; John H. White 126 

Opinions of Eminent Men of the Order (Knights of Malta) 151 

Orange Institution, Loyal Historical 566 

Oration (Druids); Charles F. Buck 209 

Oration, Centennial (Druids) ; Wm. A. Schmitt 200 

Order of Chosen Friends Historical 563 

Order of Eastern Star , . .Historical 38 

Order of Heptasophs, Improved Historical 557 

Order of Sons of St. George Historical 566 

Order of Sparta Historical 559 

Order of United American Mechanics Historical 567 

Our Departed, a Poem 497 

Our Emblem — The Button, A Poem; F. K. Weaver 410 

Our Reserve Fund; " A. O. U. W. Observer" 336 

Patriotic Order Sons of America Historical 562 

Patriotism of Order, The "Long Talk"; Geo. E. Green.. 287 

Perseverance Wins (Royal Templars) ; J. W. Grosvener. 539 

Pilgrim Fathers, United Order of Historical 557 

Protected Home; Rev. Dr. Wm. Lloyd 198 

Protection, New England Order of Historical 558 

Protective Association, American Historical 553 

Protective Legion, National Historical 560 

Rebekah, Degree of Historical 91 

Rechabites, Independent Order of Historical 527 

Red Men, Improved Order of Historical 285 

Regaining the Loss ; " Indiana Forester " 283 

Renaissance of Masonry, an Address; Roscoe Pound.... 41 

Requirements of Masonry ; " Masonic Standard " 62 

Resolution of Thanks (Temperance); B. R. Jewell 500 

Responsive Address; Supreme Master Workman W. M'Nall 325 

Responsive Address (Foresters) 246 

Ritual and Burial Service (United Workmen) 329 

Royal Arcanum Glee ; Prof. E. L. M'Dowell # 413 

Royal Arcanum Historical 349 

Royal Arcanum Rally Song; Prof. E. L. M'Dowell 412 

Royal Arcanum, Royal Law, Address ; Rev. A. S. Burrows 382 

Royal League Historical 557 

Royal Neighbors of America .Historical 561 

Royal Society of Good Fellows..... Historical 557 

Royal Templars of Temperance Historical 533 



INDEX 575 

PAGE 

Scottish Rite, Ancient Accepted Historical 36 

Security, Knights and Ladies of Historical 559 

Sermon, A Knock at the Door; Theo. L. Cuyler, D.D 474 

Sermon, Anniversary (Masonic) ; Rev. A. E. Barnett. . 70 

Sermon, Annual (Foresters); Archdeacon E. Davis 272 

Sermon, Fellowship (Royal Arcanum) ; Rev. N. E. Yeiser 400 

Sermon, Fraternal Insurance; M. A. Matthews, D.D 177 

Sermon, Man's Duty to Family; M. A. Matthews, D.D... 430 
Sermon, The Modern Spirit of Brotherhood and the 

Royal Arcanum ; Rev. Mitchell Bronk 381 

Sermon, Odd Fellowship Exemplified in Jesus only; Rev. 

F. J. Prettyman 124 

Sermon, The Supremacy of Love; H. O. Breeden, D.D... 112 

Sermon, Three Links of I.O.O.F. ; Rev. Virgil W. Teves. 102 

Sermon, True Fraternity; Rev. W. A. Broadhurst 368 

Shield of Honor Historical 561 

Sons of America, Patriotic Order Historical 562 

Sons of Hermann (Der Orden Der Hermann's 

Soehne) Historical 566 

Sons of St. George, Order of Historical 566 

Sons of Temperance Historical 471 

Sov'n Gr'd Lodge, I.O.O.F., Annual Address; A. C. Cable 97 

Sparta, Order of Historical 559 

St. Patrick's Alliance of America Historical 565 

Supremacy of Love, The, A Sermon; H. O. Breeden, D.D. 112 

Tamina's Day, Address (Order of Red Men) ; Great 

Incohonee Andrew H. Paton 306 

Tamina Traditions, Address; Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell.... 311 

Temperance in New Zealand, Address; John Harding.... 527 

Templars of Honor and Temperance Historical^ 531 

Templary, English Modern Historical 37 

Three Links I. O. O. F., Sermon ; Rev. V. W. Teves 102 

Toast, "Our Guest"; Dr. W. F. Montague 265 

Tribe of Ben-Hur Historical 560 

True Fraternity, A Sermon; Rev. W. A. Broadhurst 368 

Twenty-Fifth Anniversary, Address; J. A. Langfitt 350 

Twofold Object of the Order (Knights of Honor) 342 

United American Mechanics, Junior Order Historical 568 

United American Mechanics, Order of Historical 567 

United Ancient Order of Druids Historical 199 

United Order of Galilean Fisherman Historical 566 

United Order of the Golden Cross Historical 561 

United Order of Pilgrim Fathers Historical 557 

United Workman, Ancient Order of Historical 317 

Virtue, Mercy, and Charity, the Foundation Principles. 

Address; Wm. C. Olmstead 377 



jsr. 



57^ INDEX 

PAGE 

Washington, George, An Address; F. H. Rice, New York 298 

Washington, George, A Eulogy; Pres. Wm. McKinley... 80 

Welcome, A Little Girl's, A Recitation 484 

Welcome, Address of ; Hon. Fitzhugh Hall 398 

Welcome to Washington, D. C., Address; F. M. Bradley. 481 

Wholesome Counsels, Address 164 

Woodmen of the World Historical 436 

Work among the Young (Temperance) ; F. M. Bradley. . 509 

Work of Father Unchurch 335 

W r orkman, Modern, of America Historical 435 

Workman, United Ancient Order of Historical 317 






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